if  610 


I 


STUDIES  IN 
AMERICAN     HISTORY 

BEAUMARCHAIS,  AND  THE  WAR  OF 
AMERICAN  INDEPENDENCE.  Two  vol 
umes.  Illustrated.  By  Elizabeth  S. 
Kite. 

THE  POLITICAL  HISTORY  OF  THE  PUB 
LIC  LANDS,  FROM  1840  TO  1862.    FROM 
PRE-EMPTION    TO    HOMESTEAD.      By 
George  M.  Stephenson. 
GEORGIA  AS  A  PROPRIETARY  PROVINCE 
— THE  EXECUTION  OF  A  TRUST.    By 
James  Ross  McCain. 
LINCOLN,    THE   POLITICIAN.      By    T. 
Aaron  Levy. 

THE  AGRICULTURAL  PAPERS  OF 
GEORGE  WASHINGTON.  Edited  by 
Walter  Edwin  Brooke,  Ph.B. 


RICHARD  G.  BADGER,  PUBLISHER,  BOSTON 


LINCOLN 

THE    POLITICIAN 


BY 


T.  AARON  LEVY 


BOSTON 
RICHARD  G.  BADGER 

THE  GORHAM  PRESS 


COPYRIGHT,  1918,  BY  RICHARD  G.  BADGER 


All  Rights  Reserved 


Made  in  the  United  States  of  America 
The  Gorham  Press,  Boston,  U.S.A. 


PREFACE 

LOVE  of  kind  alone  transcended  Lincoln's  political  ambi 
tion.  His  career  as  President,  Statesman,  Emancipator 
is  a  mystery  unless  his  preparation  for  leadership  is  dem 
onstrated.  He  was  no  product  of  sudden  elevation,  no  crea 
ture  of  opportunity.  No  American  Statesman  was  better 
equipped  to  meet  a  national  emergency.  Lincoln  the  plain 
politician,  the  Illinois  legislator,  the  congressman,  and  the 
prairie  debater,  was  a  child  of  the  grocery  store,  of  the 
pioneer  gathering,  of  caucus  and  convention.  It  was  this 
political  training  that  determined  the  mode  in  which  he 
breathed  life  into  the  momentous  proclamation  of  the  nine 
teenth  century.  The  world  that  admires  his  charity  is  in 
equal  need  of  his  policy. 

Until  the  coming  of  the  industrial  movement  following 
the  Civil  War,  the  Commonwealth  commanded  the  best  heart 
and  intelligence  of  the  Republic.  Captains  of  industry  had 
not  usurped  the  places  of  power.  A  degraded  conception  of 
devotion  to  the  general  welfare  is  in  itself  a  sign  of  degenera 
tion.  A  corrupt  political  system  is  incompatible  with  a 
healthy  national  existence.  When  individual  aggrandize 
ment  is  often  preferred  to  the  common  good,  when  private 
institutions  frequently  allure  the  genius  of  a  people,  it  is  an 
inspiration  to  return  to  a  politician  who  in  simplicity  and 
sincerity  believed  that  civil  service  and  patriotism  are  better 
than  gold.  An  abounding  demand  of  the  day  is  a  practical 
political  philosophy. 

In  spite  of  golden  vision,  of  saintly  Grail,  civilization  still 


6  Lincoln  the  Politician 

questions  its  real  progress,  and  the  sphynx  of  human  suf 
fering  baffles  understanding.  Life  has  ever  been  a  ceaseless 
compromise  between  spirit  and  matter,  dream  and  reality, 
shadow  and  substance.  In  the  never  ending  conflict  between 
the  hosts  of  darkness  and  of  light,  of  radicalism  and  of  con 
servatism,  the  battle  often  has  been  won  by  the  use  of 
superior  strategy.  Wasted  energy,  a  lack  of  well  directed 
idealism  and  indifference  to  the  laws  of  human  progress  are 
the  main  obstacles  to  human  advancement.  There  is  an 
ever  present  need  of  a  fine  sense  of  proportion  between 
vision  and  reality.  The  reformer  needs  more  method,  while 
the  practical  representative  needs  more  vision.  The  solution 
of  vexing  governmental  problems  will  be  hastened  by  a 
clearer  and  more  general  comprehension  of  the  gigantic  diffi 
culties  that  stand  in  the  way  of  the  domination  of  ideas 
over  matter.  High  political  success  comes  from  a  profound 
knowledge  of  the  character  of  the  hostility  thwarting  human 
progress.  Patience  as  well  as  faith  must  be  the  guide.  Soci 
ety  suffers  from  misdirected  emotion  on  the  one  hand  and 
from  impervious  apathy  on  the  other.  Sensational  onslaught 
on  evil  has  been  often  tested  and  its  futility  proved.  Like 
wise  the  common  politician  has  made  many  despair  of  demo 
cratic  government.  Abraham  Lincoln  represents  the  sanest 
example  of  wise  political  action,  his  political  life  the  best 
platform  for  eternal  warfare  on  organized  evil. 

The  artist  is  measured  not  alone  by  his  sleepless  imagina 
tion  but  also  by  the  technic  through  which  his  vision  assumes 
external  form.  Dante  skillfully  gave  voice  to  "ten  silent 
centuries."  Even  so  the  dreams  of  prophet  and  humani 
tarian  await  the  touch  of  the  political  artist  to  find  immor 
tality  in  visible  manifestation.  Neither  a  politician  without 
a  luminous  idea  nor  a  dreamer  without  political  craft  ever 
develops  into  a  statesman.  Democracy  can  solve  its  destiny 


Preface  7 

only  by  an  adequate  appreciation  of  the  importance  of 
working  out  its  intrinsic  mission.  The  national  ideal  must 
become  a  reality.  Dreamer  and  reformer  are  needed  and 
likewise  the  politician,  the  man  of  method,  the  student  of 
matter,  the  wielder  of  the  tool.  A  heroic  past  will  not  save 
a  nation.  "The  central  idea"  of  a  people  cannot  be  safely 
relinquished,  but  must  restlessly  follow  the  law  of  practical 
evolution  in  each  generation. 

Abraham  Lincoln  was  a  child  of  American  Democracy. 
He  was  trained  in  the  college  of  republican  institutions. 
The  danger  to  Democracy  is  the  treason  of  her  own  children. 
Lincoln  stayed  with  his  teachers — the  plain  people.  He 
never  longed  for  a  place  they  could  not  give  nor  an  honor 
they  could  not  bestow.  The  aristocracy  of  externality,  of 
clothes,  fashion,  wealth,  station  and  descent  ever  remained 
shadows  to  him.  He  valued  them  at  their  real  worth,  with 
finer  judgment  than  any  man  in  modern  history.  The 
possibility  of  such  a  career  is  in  itself  a  justification  of  re 
publican  government. 

He  walked  the  way  of  the  average  citizen,  labored  in  the 
factory  of  political  methods.  Living  in  the  common  atmos 
phere,  loving  the  strife  of  debate,  near  to  the  pioneer  heart 
and  mind,  a  student  of  popularity  and  party  organization, 
he  was  from  the  beginning  a  champion  of  the  better  and 
broader  humanity.  He  lived  his  democracy  and  led  his  peo 
ple  to  a  higher  realization  of  the  resistless  purposes  of  the 
republic.  Striking  the  better  chords  of  their  being,  he  led 
them  to  make  a  mere  declaration  of  freedom  the  possession 
of  a  forgotten  people.  During  his  political  pilgrimage  he 
ever  sought  to  widen  in  a  practical  way  the  Declaration  of 
Independence.  Many  prate  much  of  Democracy  but  Lin 
coln  dared  to  make  it  the  bread  of  humanity. 

Abraham  Lincoln  used  political  machinery  for  the  welfare 


8  Lincoln  the  Politician 

of  the  people.  He  was  ambitious  and  loved  success  but  not 
for  its  own  sake.  Station  gave  him  wider  opportunity  to 
practice  his  philosophy  of  life,  his  affection  for  his  fellow- 
men,  and  sympathy  for  the  downtrodden.  He  is  a  guide  to 
the  perplexed,  to  those  who  have  not  bartered  their  ideal 
ism  in  the  stifling  fight.  His  life  is  richly  calculated  to 
deepen  faith  in  the  ultimate  triumph  of  righteousness,  to 
lead  to  the  conviction  that  spirit  and  method  are  not  sun 
dered  of  necessity,  that  the  vision  is  not  essentially  a  stranger 
to  the  party  worker,  that  policy  and  compromise  have 
their  place  in  the  domain  of  progress. 

He  looms  up  in  American  History  as  a  politician  who 
glorified  his  craft,  who  kept  his  hands  clean  in  all  of  the 
sordidness  of  material  success.  Vicarious  government  in  a 
republic  is  ruinous.  Lincoln  is  therefore  an  inspiration 
for  political  consecration  and  the  prophet  of  permanency. 
He  dedicated  his  talent  to  the  external  manifestations  of 
the  destiny  of  the  republic.  His  common  sense,  his  practi 
cal  sagacity  and  knowledge  of  human  nature  and  of  its 
limitations  for  progress,  his  prudent  recognition  of  the 
labored  advance  of  ethical  sentiment  and  of  the  solidarity 
of  vested  interests,  as  well  as  his  superb  idealism  and  ex 
alted  spirit  may  well  become  food  and  life  to  those  who  be 
lieve  in  the  better  politics.  As  these  become  the  property  and 
the  possession  of  a  broader  community  the  republic  will 
know  no  fear,  dissension  will  little  disturb  her  serenity  and 
she  will  be  equal  to  every  emergency  that  may  threaten  her 
integrity. 

Beginning  with  the  Lincoln-Douglas  debates,  Abraham 
Lincoln  became  and  remained  a  national  figure.  From  that 
time  his  life  belongs  to  the  history  of  the  United  States  and 
has  been  dwelt  upon  with  ever  increasing  fullness  and  eulogy. 
By  contrast  his  early  political  life  has  been  almost  forgot- 


Preface  9 

ten.  This  work  covers  that  neglected  period,  dealing  with 
Lincoln  the  politician,  showing  his  development  and  his  train 
ing  for  national  leadership.  The  story  is  largely  told  in 
the  words  of  Lincoln  himself,  stress  being  laid  on  crucial  in 
cidents  hitherto,  in  the  main,  indifferently  considered.  A 
unity,  dramatic  in  its  simplicity,  appears  in  his  recital,  giv 
ing  glimpses  of  a  man  who  was  guided  by  a  supreme  political 
philosophy  in  seeking  to  externalize  his  gospel  of  the  broth 
erhood  of  man  in  statute  and  decision.  Considerable  atten 
tion  is  devoted  to  Lincoln  in  Indiana  and  at  New  Salem, 
showing  the  peculiarity  of  his  power,  his  political  popularity, 
and  the  rapid  maturity  of  his  convictions  as  to  the  wisest 
methods  of  attacking  entrenched  evil.  An  earnest,  reverent 
and  impartial  study  of  his  political  career  is  an  enriching 
education.  There  is  no  need  of  hiding  its  humble,  rude 
phases.  The  more  his  life  is  lingered  over,  the  greater  the 
wonder  grows  at  the  emerging  of  Lincoln  from  the  humility 
and  the  poverty  of  his  environment  with  a  "message  of  range 
and  sweep,"  to  the  sons  of  men  the  world  over. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  LINCOLN  IN  KENTUCKY        .         .         .         .         .15 

II.  LINCOLN'S  ENVIRONMENT  IN  INDIANA  ...       21 

III.  THE  POLITICAL  HERO  OF  .NEW  SALEM  ...       39 

IV.  PRACTICAL  LEGISLATOR  .         .         .         .         .         .58 

V.  PROTESTOR  AND  PATRIOT       .         .  .         .76 

VI.  PARTISAN  IN  STATE  AND  NATIONAL  AFFAIRS  .         .       87 

VII.  RESTLESS  POLITICAL  AMBITION       .         .         .         .109 

VIII.     LINCOLN  OPPOSES  THE  INCEPTION  OF  THE  MEXI 
CAN  WAR  IN  CONGRESS  .         .         .         .         .     121 

IX.     LINCOLN'S  ATTACK  ON  SLAVERY  IN  CONGRESS       .     135 
X.     THE  SCHOOL  OF  SOLITUDE    .         .         .  .152 

XI.     AN  EMANCIPATED    POLITICIAN      .         .         .         .     162 

XII.     THE  PILOT  OF  THE  NEW  FAITH  IN  ILLINOIS  .         .181 

XIII.     LINCOLN  AND  THE  DRED  SCOTT  DECISION      .         .     197 

XIV.     LEADER  OF  THE   REPUBLICAN   PARTY  IN   ILLINOIS     201 

XV.     THE  DAWN  OF  NATIONAL  LEADERSHIP  .         .         .     207 

XVI.     THE  POLITICAL  PHILOSOPHY  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN     213 

BIBLIOGRAPHY        .         .         .         ...         .         .     223 

INDEX  .........     227 


LINCOLN  THE  POLITICIAN 


LINCOLN  THE  POLITICIAN 


CHAPTER  I 

LINCOLN    IN    KENTUCKY 

THE  forefathers  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  like  thousands  of 
Western  pioneers,  were  of  a  sturdy  English  lineage.  His 
immediate  ancestry,  however,  was  less  distinguished  than 
that  of  many  whose  names  are  forgotten  and  whose  influ 
ence  on  American  history  is  imperceptible.  Every  effort 
to  explain  his  career  through  an  illustrious  parentage  has 
proved  altogether  futile. 

Lincoln's  grandfather  belonged  to  that  band  of  fearless 
adventurers  in  Kentucky,  whose  ideal  was  a  lonely  house  in 
the  middle  of  a  vast  farm,  even  though  maintained  in  the 
presence  of  skulking  redskins.1  It  was  in  this  land  that 
earned  the  title  of  "the  Dark  and  Bloody  Ground,"  that  a 
common  frontier  tragedy  made  the  grandmother  of  Lincoln 
a  widow.  For  one  day  while  her  husband  was  in  the  fields, 
a  short  distance  from  the  house,  with  their  youngest  son 
Thomas,  a  sudden  shot  from  an  Indian  ambush  broke  the 
stillness  of  the  woods  and  the  father  fell  dead.  The  oldest 
son  Mordecai  looking  out  of  the  loop  hole  in  the  loft  of 
the  house  saw  an  Indian  raising  his  little  brother  from  the 
ground.  Aiming  at  a  silver  ornament  on  the  breast  of  the 
redman,  he  brought  him  down.  The  boy  ran  to  the  cabin 

1  Shaler,  116. 

15 


16  Lincoln  the  Politician 

and  the  mother  opened  the  door.     She  hastened  to  a  more 
settled  community  where  her  son  Thomas,  the  father  of  the 
;  P£eG;«(Jen);,  grew  to  a  shiftless  manhood.2 

The  inhabitants  of  Kentucky  were  bred  in  the  school  of 
hardship.  The  battle  with  the  forest  and  buffalo  abated,  but 
there  remained  the  heroic  fight  with  the  soil.  Splendid  virile 
qualities  were  born  in  the  strife  with  the  Indians  and  the 
forest.  Inventions  were  yet  unknown  and  a  living  was  drawn 
from  the  earth  only  through  grinding  labor.  Yet  frontier 
life  rapidly  gave  way  to  the  march  of  civilization,  the  trail 
and  the  path  to  the  highway. 

Hunters  and  warriors  became  tillers  of  the  field.  The 
merchant  and  manufacturer,  the  pioneer  preacher,  physi 
cian,  lawyer  and  politician  appeared  with  the  onward  tide 
of  events. 

The  places  of  learning  were  few.  Now  and  then  a  strug 
gling  teacher  gave  all  that  he  had  from  his  humble  store  to 
the  young  confidently  entrusted  to  his  care.  Still  something 
in  the  little  log  cabin  school-house,  even  on  unfrequented 
paths,  developed  character.  Out  of  the  battle  with  adverse 
conditions,  with  few  advantages  and  manifold  difficulties, 
came  statesmen,  and  even  scholars,  men  who  laid  the  founda 
tion  of  states,  who  guided  the  nation  through  its  crises,  and 
were  equal  to  every  emergency  that  endangered  its  vitality. 

The  law  abiding  character  of  the  people  was  notably 
evinced  by  the  supreme  patience  with  which  they  effected 
their  separation  from  the  mother  state,  Virginia.3  With 
wisdom  they  established  courts  of  justice  and  the  law  of  the 
land  was  speedily  enforced.  A  malefactor  who  violated  the 
statute  against  card  playing,  after  imprisonment,  turned  his 
back  on  Kentucky,  swearing  "that  it  was  the  meanest  coun 
try  a  white  man  ever  got  into."  4 

a  Lamon,  7-8.  3  Shaler,  107.  *  Milburn,  65. 


Lmcoln  in  Kentucky  17 

The  pioneers  of  Kentucky  had  in  a  high  degree  the  instinct 
of  government,  the  passion  for  politics.  Their  sense  of  lib 
erty  was  tempered  by  devotion  to  cons'!  JLitional  principles 
and  reverence  for  the  written  law.  The  restless  spirit  of 
adventure  was  tamed  by  the  potency  of  political  responsi 
bilities.  At  an  early  day,  they  displayed  interest  even  in 
national  problems.  Their  views  were  kindred  to  those  of 
Virginia.  Accustomed  to  restrain  their  own  freedom,  they 
did  not  favor  the  coercive  measures  of  a  distant,  unknown, 
strong  and  centralized  government.  5  The  political  policy 
of  Washington  was  far  from  popular;  that  of  Adams  was 
odious.6  The  presidential  contest  between  Adams  and  Jef 
ferson  agitated  Kentucky.  Discussions  were  frequent  and 
widespread  and  even  women  participated.  A  pioneer  boy 
was  so  elated  over  the  triumph  of  Jefferson  that,  sitting  in 
his  chamber  alone,  he  drank  in  cold  water  thirteen  toasts  in 
celebration  of  the  triumphant  event.7 

It  is  probable  that  even  in  his  infancy  Lincoln  listened 
at  the  fireside  to  many  political  controversies.  In  that  case 
he  heard  doctrines  advocated  destructive  of  the  national 
sovereignty,  vitally  hostile  to  those  avowed  and  cherished  by 
him  in  his  public  career.  Traces  of  his  early  political  sur 
roundings  on  his  vital  convictions  are  hardly  discernible. 
Lmcoln  became  a  national  politician  with  little  patience  for 
the  popular  doctrine  of  State  Sovereignty.  He  belonged  to 
the  Federal  party  by  instinct.  No  American  statesman  was 
broader  in  his  outlook  of  the  general  welfare.  It  is  worthy 
of  note  that  he  passed  his  infancy  in  Kentucky ;  his  boyhood 
and  minority  in  Indiana,  and  a  varied  career  in  the  State 
of  Illinois.  Not  being  the  son  of  a  single  community  or 
commonwealth,  he  did  not  look  to  any  individual  state  with 
fullness  of  affection.  He  was  a  citizen  of  the  Republic. 
"Ranck,  181-2,  216.  •Collins,  1,  284.  'Drake,  211. 


18  Lmcoln  the  Politician 

As  early  as  1790,  an  effort  was  made  in  Kentucky  to 
promote  the  gradual  abolition  of  slavery.  The  arrival  of 
Clay  strengthened  this  movement.  Strong  passions  were 
aroused  by  the  angry  discussions  that  followed  this  futile 
endeavor.  About  1810  the  number  of  slaves  increased  per 
ceptibly.  The  blighting  effects  of  the  institution  soon  began 
their  revelation.  Labor  was  deemed  disgraceful  and  de 
meaning.  The  possession  of  slaves,  not  "high  intellectual 
and  moral  endowments,"  became  the  test  of  social  status. 
Almost  everything  was  subordinate  to  the  dominating  insti 
tution. 

Such,  in  general,  was  the  state  of  society  in  Kentucky 
when  Thomas  Lincoln,  in  1816,  made  his  weary  trail  through 
tangled  woodland  to  the  wild  forests  of  Spencer  County, 
Indiana.  He  was  one  of  the  multitude  discouraged  with 
prospects  in  the  Southern  states.  It  was  frequently  the 
overbearing  conduct  of  slaveholders,  rather  than  hatred  to 
slavery,  that  led  the  pioneer  to  leave  the  land  of  his  nativity. 
Still  it  is  amazing  that  the  majority  of  these  emigrants  bore 
no  resentment  to  the  institution  that  provoked  their  re 
moval,  but  became  or  remained  vigorous  advocates  in  main 
taining  its  supremacy.8 

Efforts  have  been  made  to  account  for  Thomas  Lincoln's 
movement  by  reason  of  his  extreme  hostility  to  slavery. 
Lamon  indulges  in  a  more  prosaic  explanation,  stating  that 
there  were  not  more  than  fifty  slaves  in  Hardin  County; 
that  it  was  practically  a  free  community ;  that  his  more  for 
tunate  relatives  in  other  parts  of  the  State  had  no  scruples 
to  their  ownership;  that  he  was  wanderer  by  nature  gain 
ing  neither  riches  nor  credit;  and  that  a  quarrel  with  a 
neighbor,  whose  nose  he  bit  off,  made  him  more  anxious  than 
ever  to  leave  Kentucky.9  Lincoln  in  his  campaign  biography 

8  Palmer,  9.    Drake,  208-209.  »  Lamon,  16-17. 


Lincoln  m  Kentucky  19 

remarks  that  this  removal  was  partly  on  account  of  slavery, 
but  chiefly  on  account  of  the  difficulty  in  land  titles  in  Ken 
tucky.10  Ida  Tarbell  even  endeavors  to  make  a  sort  of 
Abolitionist  out  of  Thomas  Lincoln.  She  quotes  an  old 
man,  who  claims  that  he  was  present  at  the  wedding  of 
Thomas  Lincoln  and  Nancy  Hanks,  and  that  Tom  Lincoln 
and  Nancy  and  Sally  Bush  were  steeped  full  of  Jess  Head's 
notions  about  the  wrong  of  slavery  and  the  rights  of  man, 
as  explained  by  Thomas  Jefferson  and  Thomas  Paine.11  If 
this  were  the  fact,  it  is  very  strange  that  Thomas  Lincoln 
never  thereafter  manifested  any  hatred  of  slavery  during  a 
long  life.  If  Thomas  Lincoln  had  been  a  zealous  advocate  of 
the  rights  of  the  black  man,  is  it  not  stranger  still  that  his 
son  never  even  hinted  at  receiving  the  slightest  impetus  to 
anti-slavery  opinions  from  his  father?  The  long  silence  of 
Thomas,  Abraham  and  Sally  Bush  Lincoln  disproves  the 
contention  that  Thomas  Lincoln  was  a  friend  or  champion 
of  the  enslaved,  or  that  his  views  differed  from  the  prevailing 
sentiment  in  regard  to  Abolitionism. 

One  incident  looms  up  in  the  brief  stay  of  Abraham  in 
Kentucky.  "I  had  been  fishing  one  day,"  said  Lincoln,  "and 
caught  a  little  fish  which  I  was  taking  home.  I  met  a  soldier 
in  the  road,  and  having  always  been  told  at  home  that  we 
must  be  good  to  the  soldiers,  I  gave  him  my  fish."  12  This 
story  strikingly  displays  the  influence  of  his  mother.  Events 
were  few  in  his  early  life,  and  made  a  correspondingly  abid 
ing  impression. 

Lincoln  was  seven  years  old  when  he  passed  beyond  the 
borders  of  Kentucky.  There  he  received  the  rudiments  of 
an  education  from  two  nomadic  teachers.  At  the  time  of 
his  departure,  caste  feeling  was  beginning  to  dominate  so 
ciety  in  Kentucky,  but  Lincoln  never  showed  any  of  its  mani- 

10  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  639.  «  Nicolay  and  Hay,  1,  37. 

"McClure,  234. 


£0  Lincoln  the  Politician 

festations.  "He  was,"  says  Frederick  Douglas,  "the  first 
great  man  that  I  talked  with  in  the  United  States  freely, 
who  in  no  single  instance  reminded  me  of  the  difference 
between  himself  and  myself  of  the  difference  of  color,  and 
I  thought  that  all  the  more  remarkable  because  he  came 
from  a  state  where  there  were  black  laws."  13 

No  human  mind  would  have  selected  Hardin  County  for 
the  birthplace  of  the  man  who  was  to  grapple  with  the  most 
portentous  problem  in  all  American  history.  For  the  slav 
ery  question  baffled  the  wisdom  of  the  makers  of  the  Con 
stitution.  It  darkened  the  last  hours  of  the  stalwart  states 
men,  Webster,  Clay  and  Calhoun.  It  tried  and  tested  the 
endurance  of  this  nation  in  a  crisis  of  grave  moment. 

18  Rice,  193. 


CHAPTER  II 


year  that  marked  the  advent  of  Indiana  into 
national  statehood,  witnessed  the  humble  and  unheralded 
entrance  of  Thomas  Lincoln  and  his  family  into  Spencer 
County.  The  State  was  a  haven  for  the  pioneer  of  peace 
able  disposition.  The  danger  of  the  Indian  no  longer 
haunted  the  land.  Still  life  was  a  grim  struggle,  hewing  the 
way  through  solid  forests  to  reach  the  new  home,  cutting 
the  trees  to  build  the  log  cabin,  patiently  raising  the  first 
crop  of  corn.  It  took  time  to  construct  the  trail  and  then 
the  road.  Yet  with  marvelous  rapidity,  these  early  settlers 
soon  caused  the  church  to  appear,  the  schoolhouse  and  the 
hamlet.1 

Party  politics  is  largely  the  product  of  a  settled  com 
munity.  When  men  are  engrossed  in  establishing  a  home 
matters  of  national  significance  seem  of  little  moment.  The 
kitchen  is  more  important  to  the  log  cabin  than  the  parlor. 
So  the  most  pressing  problems  of  a  pioneer  settlement  are 
those  of  local  concern.  Conventions  and  parties  were  un 
known  for  some  time.  Any  man  could  proclaim  his  candi 
dacy  for  office.  Voters  were  known  as  "Jones-men"  or 
"Smith-men,"  after  the  candidate  of  their  choice.  The 
earliest  manifestations  of  party  spirit  arose  over  the  slavery 
question.  Even  under  territorial  government,  delegates  to 
Congress  were  called  "Slavery"  or  "Anti-Slavery."  During 

^irbeck,  90. 

21 


22  Lincoln  the  Politician 

the  canvass  in  which  John  Quincy  Adams  was  selected  as 
President,  the  Whig  and  Democratic  parties  were  little  rec 
ognized  in  Indiana.  On  election  day,  the  workers  shouted, 
"Here  are  Jackson  tickets !  Here  are  Clay !"  2  The  defeat 
of  Jackson  hastened  the  growth  of  partisanship.  With  the 
introduction  of  party  politics  came  resort  to  trickery  in 
elections.3 

Politics  was  a  recreation  to  the  early  settler.  When  the 
newspaper  was  a  luxury,  when  there  were  few  forms  of 
amusement,  it  was  an  indulgence  as  well  as  an  educational 
influence  to  listen  to  the  orator  on  the  questions  of  the  day. 
Politics  was  the  school  of  the  nation,  and  in  it  there  were 
few  truants. 

The  following  incident  illustrates  a  primitive  political 
gathering.  School  was  dismissed  at  the  time  of  the  militia 
election,  and  so  the  teacher  took  part  in  the  festivities.  A 
tin  cup  of  whiskey  was  passed  around  twice,  then  a  two 
gallon  jug  and  bucket  of  water.  A  warm  discussion  arose 
about  Indiana  accepting  the  land  donated  by  Congress  for 
the  construction  of  the  Wabash  and  Erie  Canals.  Dr.  Stone 
was  most  noisy  against  accepting.  "Friends  of  the  canal 
chose  me,"  said  the  teacher,  "to  reply."  "I  was  'half  seas 
over'  from  free  and  frequent  use  of  the  cup.  I  was  puzzled 
to  know  what  to  do.  Soon  a  fence  rail  was  slipped  into 
the  worn  fence  near  by  and  a  wash  tub  turned  up  and  placed 
upon  it.  Two  or  three  seized  hold  of  me  and  placed  me  on 
the  eminence  amid  shouts  of  the  friends  of  the  canal.  I 
could  scarcely  preserve  my  equilibrium.  My  lips  refused 
utterance.  After  a  long  pause,  I  smote  my  breast  with  my 
hand,  and  said,  'I  feel  too  full  for  utterance.'  (I  meant 
whiskey — they,  full  of  indignation  at  the  Dr.'s  effrontery  of 
opposition) .  The  ruse  worked  like  a  charm.  They  shouted, 
•Smith,  1,  220.  'Smith  Misc.  Ind.,  119. 


Lincoln's  Environment  in  Indiana  23 

'Let  him  have  it !'  I  raised  my  finger  and  pointed  a  moment 
steadily  at  the  Doctor.  They  shouted,  'Hit  him  again.'  I 
made  my  first  speech  twenty-five  minutes.  The  Dr.  talked 
again  thirty  minutes.  I  closed  the  debate  and  there  was  a 
viva  voce  vote  in  favor  of  the  canal." 

As  the  early  settler  succeeded  the  hunter,  agriculture  be 
came  the  main  means  of  subsistence,  but  it  could  not  become 
a  source  of  profit  without  improved  methods  of  transporta 
tion.  The  movement  for  internal  improvements  was  to  have 
a  profound  influence  on  the  course  of  events  in  the  West. 
The  splendid  enthusiasm  that  lately  concerned  itself  with  a 
hostile  environment  was  now  employed  in  competing  for  the 
markets  of  the  East.  The  Westerner  was  not  accustomed  to 
wander  in  the  realm  of  dreams,  yet  he  grew  romantic  in  con 
templating  the  resources  of  his  fertile  soil,  and  believed  the 
time  would  come  when  nations  would  pay  tribute  to  his  prod 
ucts.  The  completion  of  the  Erie  Canal  marked  a  distinct 
epoch  in  this  movement.  It  increased  prices  in  some  cases 
more  than  two  hundred  per  cent.  This  advance  called  for 
better  shipping  facilities.  As  times  became  better,  the  peo 
ple  of  the  West  became  the  missionaries  of  the  internal  im 
provement  system.5 

Nothing  so  vividly  revealed  this  enthusiasm  as  the  recep 
tion  afforded  Governor  Clinton  when  he  visited  Ohio  in  1825. 
He  was  hailed  as  a  hero,  as  a  friend,  as  a  benefactor.  A  con 
temporary  observer  thus  described  the  occasion: 

"The  grave  and  the  gay,  the  man  of  gray  hairs  and  the 
ruddy-faced  youth,  matrons  and  maidens,  and  even  lisping 
children,  joined  to  tell  his  worth,  and  on  his  virtues  dwell, 
to  hail  his  approach  and  to  welcome  his  arrival.  Every 
street,  where  he  passed,  was  thronged  with  multitudes,  and 
the  windows  were  filled  with  the  beautiful  ladies  of  Ohio, 

4  Cox,  30.  8  Squirrel  Hunters  of  Ohio,  298. 


£4  Lincoln  the  Politician 

waving  their  snowy  white  handkerchiefs,  and  casting  flowers 
on  the  pavement  where  he  was  to  pass  on  it."  The  Governor 
was  deeply  affected  by  such  an  unusual  demonstration,  and 
even  shed  tears  in  the  presence  of  his  worshippers.6 

A  vast  system  of  internal  improvements  in  Indiana  was> 
the  fruition  of  a  campaign  of  more  than  a  decade.  It  was 
an  unfailing  argument  of  those  seeking  political  preferment. 
The  construction  of  roads  and  canals  was  urged  as  one  of 
the  fundamental  purposes  of  human  society.  This  policy 
was  declared  to  be  the  highway  from  poverty  to  prosperity. 
It  fairly  became  the  political  religion  of  the  day.  Indiana, 
in  1836,  started  with  rejoicing  on  the  path  that  was  before 
long  to  involve  it  in  disasters  that  led  it  close  to  the  chasm 
of  bankruptcy  and  repudiation. 

Spencer  County  was  in  the  southern  part  of  the  State, 
bordering  on  the  Ohio  River.  The  country  was  very  rough 
and  covered  with  forests,  sparsely  inhabited  and  poorly 
adapted  for  prosperous  farming.  There  being  no  market 
for  the  products  of  the  soil,  the  most  primitive  methods  in 
agriculture  were  in  operation.  Wild  turkeys  and  deer  were 
had  at  the  door  of  every  man's  cabin.  Bears,  wild-cats, 
even  panthers,  were  still  in  evidence. 

Thomas  Lincoln,  though  he  often  changed  his  home,  did 
not  modify  his  character.  He  remained  to  the  end  a  shift 
less  man  of  roving  disposition  without  effectual  ambition. 
A  carpenter  by  trade,  while  other  men  built  substantial 
homes  in  the  wilderness,  he  was  content  to  live  in  a  primitive 
log  cabin  without  windows,  floor  or  furniture.  It  was  only 
the  influence  of  his  second  wife  that  secured  those  urgent 
improvements.  A  man  of  supreme  physical  strength,  slow 
to  anger,  yet  dangerous  when  once  aroused,  he  was  not  with 
out  deep  affection.  Still  he  did  not  hesitate  to  knock  his  in- 
9  Squirrel  Hunters  of  Ohio,  288. 


Lincoln's  Environment  m  Indiana  25 

quisitive  son  off  the  fence  for  answering  traveler's  questions. 
He  was  a  master  in  the  telling  of  stories.  It  was  his  chief 
accomplishment,  the  main  gift  that  his  son  owed  to  him.  The 
nature  of  his  mind  is  somewhat  shown  by  his  rambling  re 
ligious  opinions.  In  Kentucky  he  was  a  Free  Will  Baptist ; 
in  Indiana  he  espoused  the  cause  of  Presbyterianism,  and 
in  Illinois  he  became  a  Campbellite.  A  relative  quaintly  ob 
serves  that  happiness  was  the  end  of  life  with  him.7  John 
Hanks,  the  uncle  of  Lincoln,  was  the  most  sturdy  of  his 
relatives ;  yet,  this  s^me  Hanks  was  so  illiterate  that  when 
Lincoln  became  President,  he  could  not  endow  him  with  an 
Indian  Agency. 

The  somberness  of  Lincoln's  childhood  was  brightened  by 
the  memory  of  his  mother.  In  intellect,  she  was  far  above 
those  with  whom  she  enacted  the  sad  and  short  drama  of 
her  life.  Even  as  a  child  in  Kentucky  he  felt  the  spell  and 
potent  influence  of  her  words.  When  she  died,  young  as  he 
was,  he  lived  alone  with  his  grief.  The  passing  years  hal 
lowed  the  early  impression  of  his  sorrow,  yet  during  all  these 
years  the  memory  of  his  mother  was  a  mystic  influence  in 
his  development;  and  so  when  he  stood  almost  at  the  summit 
of  his  career,  he  declared,  "All  that  I  am,  all  that  I  hope  to 
be,  I  owe  to  my  angel  mother."  8 

The  greatness  of  Lincoln  grows  upon  us  when  we  contem 
plate  the  conditions  from  which  he  emerged,  and  consider 
the  manner  of  men  among  whom  he  lived.  Despite  the 
efforts  of  many  biographers  to  brighten  his  early  surround 
ings,  we  have  the  highest  evidence  in  his  conduct  and  speech 
that  he  was  nurtured  in  hopeless  adversity ;  in  poverty  that 
was  not  alone  incidental  to  pioneer  conditions,  but  con 
tinued  long  after  it  was  the  common  fate.  He  compre 
hensively  described  his  environment  in  the  statement  that 
7  Lamon,  15.  8  Arnold,  20. 


26  Lincoln  the  Politician 

there  was  absolutely  nothing  in  his  associations  to  excite 
ambition  for  education.9  There  was  little  in  his  ancestry  to 
quicken  his  pride.  He  ever  maintained  a  peculiar  reticence 
about  his  youthful  days  and  his  parentage.  He  may  by 
constant  thinking  have  exaggerated  the  distressing  state  of 
his  childhood,  but  in  the  main  there  can  be  little  addition 
to,  or  modification  of,  his  reluctant  testimony.10 

He  made  his  own  way  in  the  trail  of  letters.  He  pur 
sued  plans  of  educating  himself  infinitely  better  than  those 
followed  in  schools  and  universities.  He  has  left  us  price 
less  testimony  of  the  manner  of  his  intellectual  develop 
ment.  "Among  my  earliest  recollections,"  said  Lincoln,  "I 
remember  how  when  a  child,  I  used  to  get  irritated  when 
anybody  talked  to  me  in  a  way  I  could  not  understand.  I 
do  not  think  I  ever  got  angry  at  anything  else  in  my  life; 
but  that  always  disturbed  my  temper  and  has  ever  since.  I 
can  remember  going  to  my  little  bedroom,  after  hearing  the 
neighbors  talk  of  an  evening  with  my  father,  and  spending 
no  small  part  of  the  night  walking  up  and  down  and  trying 
to  make  out  what  was  the  exact  meaning  of  some  of  their, 
to  me,  dark  sayings.  I  could  not  sleep  though  I  tried  to, 
when  I  got  on  such  a  hunt  for  an  idea  until  I  had  caught  it ; 
and  when  I  thought  I  had  got  it,  I  was  not  satisfied  until  I 
had  repeated  it  over  and  over  again;  until  I  had  put  it  in 
language  plain  enough,  as  I  thought,  for  any  boy  I  knew 
to  comprehend.  This  was  a  kind  of  passion  with  me,  and 
it  has  stuck  by  me;  for  I  am  never  easy  now,  when  I  am 
handling  a  thought,  till  I  have  bounded  it  north  and  south 
and  bounded  it  east  and  west.  But  your  question  reminds 
me  of  a  bit  of  education  which  I  am  bound  in  honor  to  men 
tion.  In  the  course  of  my  law  reading  I  constantly  came 
upon  the  word  demonstrate.  I  thought  at  first  that  I  un- 
9  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  596-597.  10  Lamon,  17-18, 


Lincoln9 s  Environment  in  Indiana  27 

derstood  its  meaning,  but  soon  became  satisfied  that  I  did 
not.  I  said  to  myself,  'What  do  I  mean  when  I  demonstrate 
more  than  when  I  reason  or  prove?'  I  consulted  Webster's 
Dictionary.  That  told  of  certain  proof, — proof  beyond  the 
probability  of  a  doubt,  but  I  could  form  no  sort  of  idea 
what  proof  it  was.  I  thought  a  great  many  things  were 
proved  beyond  the  possibility  of  a  doubt,  without  recourse 
to  any  such  reasoning  as  I  understood  demonstration  to  be. 
I  consulted  all  the  dictionaries  and  books  of  reference  I 
could  find,  but  with  no  better  results.  You  might  as  well 
have  defined  blue  to  a  blind  man.  At  last  I  said,  'Lincoln, 
you  can  never  make  a  lawyer  if  you  do  not  understand 
what  demonstrate  means ;'  and  I  left  my  situation  in  Spring 
field,  went  home  to  my  father's  house,  and  stayed  there  until 
I  could  give  any  proposition  in  the  six  books  of  Euclid  at 
sight.  I  then  found  out  what  demonstrate  meant,  and  went 
back  to  my  law  studies."  n 

Inadequate  as  his  education  may  have  been  objectively, 
Lincoln  was  supremely  trained  in  the  college  of  lonely 
thought.  No  American  of  eminence  owes  less  to  the  public 
school  system.  His  entire  career  is  a  mystery  unless  full 
value  is  given  to  the  statement  of  Herndon  that  "Lincoln 
read  less  and  thought  more  than  any  other  man  of  his 
time."  * 

His  love  of  learning  amounted  to  a  passion.  The  time  his 
companions  squandered  in  recreation  he  largely  employed  in 
mental  improvement.  His  literary  education  was  a  painful 
process  and  was  gained  without  help.  His  plan  was  slow  but 
effective.  "He  read  every  book  he  could  lay  his  hands  on; 
and,  when  he  came  across  a  passage  that  struck  him,  he 
would  write  it  down  on  boards  if  he  had  no  paper.  Then 
he  would  rewrite  it,  look  at  it,  repeat  it.  He  had  a  copy- 

11  Tarbell,  1,  43.  *  Oldroyd,  533. 


#8  Lmcoln  the  Politician 

book,  a  kind  of  scrap  book,  in  which  he  put  down  all  things, 
and  thus  preserved  them."  12 

By  this  method  he  gradually  evolved  a  style  of  supreme 
strength  and  sincerity.  The  Bible  was  the  main  force  in 
its  fruition.  For  a  long  time  he  dabbled  in  "crude  rhymes" 
and  "awkward  imitations  of  scriptural  lore."  With  all  the 
gentleness  of  his  nature,  he  was  a  master  of  satire,  and 
slowly  learned  to  use  this  dangerous  gift  with  moderation. 
One  cf  his  early  compositions  was  an  impulsive  effort  to  con 
demn  cruelty  to  the  helpless  toad  and  turtle.  More  ambi 
tious  products  followed.  The  reading  of  a  newspaper  article 
on  temperance  induced  him  to  contribute  something  on  that 
theme.  A  minister  found  it  a  place  in  a  newspaper,  to  the 
ecstasy  of  the  writer  for  the  first  time  tasting  the  sweet 
ness  of  publicity.  This  success  led  him  to  indulge  in  other 
dissertations.  His  political  environment  and  his  readings  in 
American  history  germinated.  With  exultant  spirit  he  pro 
claimed  that  "the  American  Government  was  the  best  form  of 
government  for  an  intelligent  people;  that  it  ought  to  be 
kept  sound,  and  preserved  forever;  that  general  education 
should  be  fostered  and  carried  all  over  the  country ;  that  the 
Constitution  should  be  saved,  the  Union  perpetuated,  and  the 
laws  revered,  respected,  and  enforced."1  This  effort  met 
with  instant  approbation.  A  lawyer,  to  whose  criticism  it 
was  soberly  entrusted,  declared,  "The  world  can't  beat  it." 

Three  books  had  a  pervasive  influence  upon  his  political 
opinions,  "The  Revised  Statutes  of  Indiana,"  Weems'  "Life 
of  Washington,"  and  a  "History  of  the  United  States."  1B 
Lmcoln  has  left  us  indisputable  evidence  of  the  profound 
power  of  Revolutionary  History  in  moulding  his  patriotic 
sentiments.  For  in  his  memorable  speech  in  the  Senate* 

"Lamon,  36-37.  "Ibid.,  69. 

"Ibid.,  68-69.  "Ibid.,  37. 


Lincoln's  Environment  in  Indiana  29 

Chamber  at  Trenton,  New  Jersey,  he  said : 

"May  I  be  pardoned  if,  upon  this  occasion,  I  mention 
that  away  back  in  my  childhood,  the  earliest  days  of  my 
being  able  to  read,  I  got  hold  of  a  small  book,  such  a  one 
as  few  of  the  younger  members  have  ever  seen,  Weems'  'Life 
of  Washington.'  I  remember  all  the  accounts  there  given 
of  the  battlefields  and  struggles  for  the  liberties  of  the  coun 
try,  and  none  fixed  themselves  upon  my  imagination  so 
deeply  as  the  struggle  here  at  Trenton,  New  Jersey.  The 
crossing  of  the  river,  the  contest  with  the  Hessians,  the  great 
hardships  endured  at  that  time,  all  fixed  themselves  on  my 
memory,  more  than  any  single  Revolutionary  event ;  and  you 
all  know,  for  you  have  all  been  boys,  how  these  early  im 
pressions  last  longer  than  any  others.  I  recollect  thinking 
then,  boy  even  though  I  was,  that  there  must  have  been 
something  more  than  common  that  these  men  struggled  for. 
I  am  exceedingly  anxious  that  that  thing — that  something 
even  more  than  national  independence;  that  something  that 
held  out  a  great  promise  to  all  the  people  of  the  world  to 
all  time  to  come — I  am  exceedingly  anxious  that  this  Union, 
the  Constitution,  and  the  liberties  of  the  people  shall  be  per 
petuated  in  accordance  with  the  original  idea  for  which  that 
struggle  was  made,  and  I  shall  be  most  happy  indeed  if  I 
shall  be  a  humble  instrument  in  the  hands  of  the  Almighty, 
and  of  this,  his  almost  most  chosen  people,  for  perpetuating 
the  object  of  that  great  struggle."  16 

The  influence  of  Weems'  "Life"  is  indicated  by  the  fact 
that  Lincoln  did  not  lose  his  boyish  enthusiasm  for  the  char 
acter  of  Washington.  He  once  exclaimed,  "Let  us  believe  as 
in  the  days  of  our  youth  that  Washington  was  spotless;  it 
makes  human  nature  better  to  believe  that  one  human  being 
was  perfect:  that  human  perfection  is  possible."17  This 

"Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  688.  "Whitney,  45-46. 


30  Lincoln  the  Politician 

devotion  is  still  more  significant  as  Lincoln  very  rarely  in 
dulged  in  hero  worship. 

We  shall  not  at  all  comprehend  the  political  life  of 
Abraham  Lincoln  unless  we  fairly  understand  the  momentous 
subjective  influence  of  these  few  volumes.  One  of  them,  the 
Revised  Statutes  of  Indiana,  contained  the  Declaration  of 
Independence.  He  was  scarcely  more  than  eighteen  years 
old  when  he  brooded  over  the  significance  of  that  immortal 
utterance.18 

His  stepsister  says,  he  was  an  indefatigable  preacher. 
"When  father  and  mother  would  go  to  church,  Abe  would 
take  down  the  Bible,  read  a  verse,  give  out  a  hymn,  and  we 
would  sing.  Abe  was  about  fifteen  years  of  age.  He 
preached,  and  we  would  do  the  crying.  Sometimes  he  would 
join  in  the  chorus  of  tears.  One  day  my  brother,  John 
Johnston,  caught  a  land  terrapin,  brought  it  to  the  place 
where  Abe  was  preaching,  threw  it  against  the  tree  and 
crushed  the  shell.  It  suffered  much, — quivered  all  over.  Abe 
then  preached  against  cruelty  to  animals,  contending  that 
an  ant's  life  was  just  as  sweet  to  it  as  ours  to  us."  19 

Often  mounting  a  real  tree  stump  his  quaint  stories  and 
impressive  manner  gathered  all  his  fellow  laborers.  It  is 
related  that  Lincoln's  father  and  sometimes  his  employers, 
angered  at  the  loss  of  labor,  would  drag  the  orator  from 
his  eminence.  It  was  about  this  time  that  Lincoln  said  that 
his  father  taught  him  to  work  but  never  to  love  it.20 

Lincoln's  wit  was  no  small  part  of  his  forensic  eloquence. 
He  was  more  ready  at  the  beginning  of  his  career  than  in 
after  years  to  ridicule  censorious  conduct.  So  James  Larkin 
found  it,  who  was  a  great  hand  to  brag.  He  stepped  up 
before  Abe,  who  was  in  the  crowd,  and  boasted  of  his  horse. 
"I  have  got  the  best  horse  in  the  country,"  he  shouted  to 

18McClure,  167.  "Lamon,  40.  » Ibid.,  36-40. 


Lincoln's  Environment  in  Indiana  31 

his  young  listener.  "I  ran  him  three  miles  in  exactly  three 
minutes,  and  he  never  fetched  a  long  breath." 

"I  presume,"  said  Abe,  rather  dryly,  "that  he  fetched  a 
good  many  short  ones  though."  21 

Lincoln  further  found  opportunity  for  exercising  his  ora 
torical  talent  in  the  speaking  exhibitions  at  Gentryville. 
Public  debates  were  no  minor  attraction  to  the  community. 
Discussions  as  to  whether  the  Indian  or  negro  had  the 
greater  right  to  find  fault  with  his  treatment  were  frequent 
and  intense.  The  closing  day  of  school  was  duly  celebrated 
by  declamations,  debates  and  dialogues.  Many  selections 
for  these  occasions  came  from  the  Kentucky  "Preceptor," 
rich  in  such  utterance  as  Pitt's  "Speech  on  the  Slave 
Trade."  22 

Lincoln  was  present  on  one  occasion  at  a  dramatic  mur 
der  trial  in  which  John  V.  Brackenridge  appeared  for  the 
defendant.23  Lincoln  heard  the  polished  and  eloquent  advo 
cate  as  in  a  dream.  After  the  trial  the  humble  backwood 
speaker  freely  praised  the  eloquence  of  the  mature  advocate. 
Brackenridge  glancing  at  his  awkward  shabby  admirer 
turned  away  without  a  word. 

Lincoln  learned  that  ability  does  not  always  go  hand  in 
hand  with  sympathy.  He  crawled  into  his  own  world  where 
pride  was  to  have  no  home,  where  humble  appearances  were 
not  to  be  despised.  When  Lincoln  as  President  met  this 
same  Brackenridge,  he  simply  said,  "If  I  could,  as  I  then 
thought,  have  made  as  good  a  speech  as  that,  my  soul  would 
have  been  satisfied ;  for  it  was  up  to  that  time  the  best  speech 
I  had  ever  heard."  24 

The  people  of  Gentryville  were  largely  of  a  rough  hardy 
sort.  Like  other  pioneers  they  were  ready  to  escape  the 

*  Herndon,  1,  43.  »  Spencer  County,  313. 

23  Tarbell,  1,  36.  24  Herndon,  1,  49-50.    Lamon,  67. 


32  Lincoln  the  Politician 

monotony  of  their  life  by  engaging  in  exciting  games.  The 
rude  joke,  the  vulgar  gibe  was  prized.  To  laugh  loud  was 
somewhat  of  a  luxury  to  the  hard  working  settler.  Refining 
influence  was  fairly  unknown. 

However,  social  distinctions  gradually  asserted  them 
selves  with  the  progress  of  prosperity.  Parties  of  some  pre 
tensions  came  into  vogue,  and  distinctions  were  made  in  the 
guests  invited.  Lincoln,  who  had  been  welcomed  at  the  ruder 
gatherings,  log  rollings  and  similar  entertainments,  was  not 
in  favor  with  those  seeking  social  prominence.  Fond  of 
popular  applause,  he  resented  this  treatment,  and  in  spite 
wrote  satires  and  "chronicles,"  chastising  the  offenders.25 
These  productions  were  coarse,  vulgar  and  even  indecent, 
spiced  with  no  lack  of  wit.  They  appealed  to  many,  though 
it  is  said  that  some  were  shocked. 

On  one  occasion  Lincoln  placed  certain  reflections  on 
the  Grigsby  family  where  they  could  be  readily  discovered. 
Being  found,  they  brought  on  a  fight  for  the  family  honor. 
Lincoln  had  his  stepbrother,  Johnston,  first  stand  "the 
brunt"  of  the  contest.  A  terrible  fight  ensued,  and  when 
Lincoln  saw  that  Grigsby  was  too  much  for  Johnston,  he 
burst  through  the  ring,  caught  Grigsby,  and  threw  him  off 
some  feet  away.  Then  swinging  a  bottle  of  liquor  over  his 
head  swore  that  he  was  "the  big  buck  of  the  lick."  "If  any 
one  doubts  it,"  he  shouted,  "he  has  only  to  come  on  and  whet 
his  horns."  A  general  engagement  resulted,  but  soon  the 
field  was  cleared  and  the  wounded  retired  amid  the  exultant 
shouts  of  the  victors.26 

From  such  an  origin  Lincoln  came.     Biographers  seek  to 

illumine  its  poverty  in  vain.    He  was  reared  amid  a  shiftless 

family.    No  external  inducement  guided  him  in  his  wearisome 

journey.     He  was  in  the  daily  presence  of  vulgarity.     He 

"Lamon,  63.  ™Ibid.,  64-65. 


Lincoln's  Environment  in  Indiana  35 

alone  of  all  his  companions  started  in  a  titanic  conflict  with 
an  enslaving  environment. 

The  store  was  the  social  center  of  the  pioneer  town,  the 
place  to  hear  the  latest  gossip.  There  the  neighbors  met  to 
pass  judgment  on  events  of  general  and  local  interest.  The 
proprietor  was  often  the  only  possessor  of  the  weekly  news 
paper.  It  was  not  as  in  later  days  the  abode  of  loungers 
mainly.  It  played  a  big  part  in  the  education  of  the  frontier 
community.  It  was  the  school  of  many  men  and  the  home 
of  wit  and  wisdom.  Politics,  religion  and  other  problems 
were  here  subjected  to  the  scrutiny  of  men  blest  with  good 
sense  and  judgment. 

The  store  drew  the  choice  spirits  in  story  telling,  and  its 
hero  was  the  man  who  could  best  kindle  laughter.  In  a 
community  where  this  art  was  the  highway  to  the  general 
good  will,  Lincoln  soon  became  the  master  among  the  many 
contestants  for  that  distinction. 

Wherever  men  congregated  Lincoln  sought  supremacy. 
Political  discussions  were  frequent.  The  newcomer  soon 
tried  his  hand  in  the  art  of  controversy.  He  gradually 
gained  headway  in  the  esteem  of  the  soberminded  for  the 
clearness  of  his  statements,  for  the  keenness  of  his  vision,  and 
the  honesty  of  his  manner.  Day  by  day  he  gathered  strength 
and  wisdom.  It  is  improbable  that  any  other  young  man  so 
soon  won  the  general  good  will  or  was  so  widely  respected 
by  all  classes  of  men.  In  this,  even  as  a  youth,  he  was 
unique.  He  had  the  splendid  tact,  the  inherent  humanity 
that  appealed  to  the  various  elements  that  constituted  the 
transitional  frontier  when  it  was  evolving  into  a  higher  com 
munity. 

There  is  very  little  satisfactory  evidence  of  the  political 
opinions  of  Abraham  Lincoln  in  Indiana.  Lamon  states  that 
his  family  were  all  Jackson  Democrats;  that  Lincoln's  em- 


84  Lincoln  the  Politician 

ployer,  Jones,  the  grocery  keeper  of  Gentryville,  was  a  Jack 
son  Democrat,  and  that  Lincoln  read  papers  that  cham 
pioned  the  principles  of  the  Democratic  party  of  that  day, 
and  that  he  was  in  the  beginning  a  follower  of  that  eminent 
political  sage.27  There  is  no  corroboration  of  this  testi 
mony  that  Lincoln  was  ever  avowedly  an  attendant  in  the 
school  of  Jackson.  Lincoln  frequently  refers  to  the  fact 
with  pride  that  he  was  an  old  time  Whig,  and  it  might  be 
inferred  from  his  speeches  and  statements  that  he  was  a 
devoted  follower  of  Clay  from  the  very  first.  However,  Lin 
coln  was  somewhat  an  admirer  of  Andrew  Jackson.  It  may 
be  that  early  in  life  he  passed  through  the  several  stages  of 
political  development,  and  was  thus  aided  in  becoming  a 
tolerant  politician. 

From  childhood  until  1829,  Lincoln  lived  in  Gentry 
ville.  In  that  year  he  made  a  trip  by  boat  to  New  Orleans 
with  Allen  Gentry.  It  was  on  this  venture  that  Lincoln  had 
his  first  vital  meeting  with  the  members  of  the  race  in  whose 
destiny  he  was  to  be  so  deeply  concerned.  While  their  boat 
was  moored  near  Baton  Rouge  and  they  were  fast  asleep, 
they  were  startled  by  footsteps  on  board.  They  knew  "that 
it  was  a  gang  of  negroes  come  to  rob,  and  perhaps  to  mur 
der  them.  Allen,  thinking  to  frighten  the  intruders,  cried 
out,  'Bring  the  guns,  Lincoln ;  shoot  them.'  Abe  came  with 
out  a  gun,  but  he  fell  among  the  negroes  with  a  huge  blud 
geon,  and  belabored  them  most  cruelly,"  but  "received  a  scar 
which  he  carried  with  him  to  his  grave."  28  It  is  strange  that 
this  incident  did  not  jaundice  the  youthful  Lincoln  against 
the  unfortunate  people.  Though  his  life  was  endangered 
by  these  wayward  sons  of  Ethiopia,  it  did  not  affect  his 
sympathy  in  any  degree  for  the  burdened  and  oppressed 
race,  nor  change  his  judgment  as  to  the  injustice  of  their 
^Lamon,  57,  123.  ™  Ibid.,  71,  72. 


Lincoln's  Environment  in  Indiana  35 

treatment. 

The  origin  of  Lincoln's  anti-slavery  sentiments  is  some 
what  of  a  mystery.  That  Stephen  Douglas,  reared  in  New 
England,  should  become  the  foremost  champion  of  the  South 
ern  slavery  policy,  and  that  Abraham  Lincoln,  a  son  of 
Kentucky,  that  of  the  bondsman,  baffles  the  wisdom  of  the 
historian. 

Various  efforts  have  been  made  to  account  for  his  views 
on  the  slavery  issue.  The  claim  that  he  derived  them  from 
his  parents  in  Kentucky  has  been  noted.  Ida  Tarbell  enu 
merates  the  various  abolition  movements  in  the  western  do 
main  that  may  have  influenced  him.  In  1819,  Charles 
Osborn  published  a  paper  advocating  emancipation.  A  few 
years  after  Benjamin  Lundy  issued  the  Genius  at  Shelby  - 
ville.  Scarcely  one  hundred  miles  from  Gentry ville  the  Abo 
lition  Intelligencer  was  started.  There  were  abolition  soci 
eties  in  Kentucky  and  Illinois.  The  same  author  states  that 
"it  is  not  impossible  that  as  Frederick  Douglas  first  real 
ized  his  own  condition  in  reading  a  school  speaker,  the  'Col 
umbian  Orator,'  so  Abraham  Lincoln  first  felt  the  wrong 
of  slavery  in  reading  his  'Kentucky'  or  'American  Precep 
tor.'  "  29 

Considering  the  slowness  of  communication,  the  casual 
appearances  of  even  well-known  journals,  it  is  doubtful  if 
Lincoln  heard  of  the  abolition  movement  to  any  serious  ex 
tent.  It  is  at  least  significant  that  Lincoln  alone,  of  his 
entire  family  and  of  his  associates,  saw  the  magnitude  of  the 
slavery  evil.  Like  his  sympathy  for  the  suffering  animal 
world,  his  anti-slavery  sentiments  baffle  explanation.  He 
hated  the  infliction  of  wrong  instinctively. 

There  is  a  duality  to  the  life  of  Lincoln  that  should  com 
mand  more  attention.  Intellectually,  he  lived  in  a  world 

29  Tarbell,  1,  35,  36. 


36  Lmcoln  the  Politician 

of  his  own,  a  world  in  which  he  found  little  companionship. 
Still  he  was  not  altogether  the  fruition  of  a  subjective  life. 
He  shared  the  common  pioneer  craving  for  human  society. 
It  may  have  been  rendered  even  more  intense  in  his  case 
by  the  loneliness  of  his  mental  existence.  Neither  the  forest, 
prairie  nor  storm,  the  sunset  or  constellation  were  his  friends 
as  men  were.  He  loved  his  kind  more  than  nature. 

During  his  last  years  in  Indiana  he  lived  fully  the  life 
of  the  people  around  him.  Their  ideals  seemed  his  ideals. 
Athletic  superiority  was  the  road  to  respect  and  honor,  and 
Lincoln  became  the  foremost  man  in  physical  games.  He 
first  won  renown  as  a  wrestler.  Stories  of  his  superior 
strength  were  heralded  far  and  wide  and  his  place  was  un 
challenged.  He  was  a  leader  in  the  rude  crowd  where  might 
was  the  test  of  standing.  Living  among  men  devoted  to 
hunting,  he  seldom  indulged  in  that  common  recreation.  In 
this  his  individuality  asserted  itself.  He  would  not  sanction 
suffering  even  in  the  animal  world,  and  he  seldom  swerved 
from  his  convictions  even  in  the  day  when  the  wolf  howled 
at  the  cabin  door. 

The  maturity  of  Lincoln's  development  at  the  time  of  his 
departure  from  Indiana  has  not  received  just  consideration. 
Gaunt  and  awkward  in  appearance  there  was  little  in  him  to 
attract  favorable  attention.  He  was  without  trade  or  pro 
fession.  Nothing  appeared  to  distinguish  him  from  the 
other  members  of  the  shiftless  Lincoln  and  Hanks  family. 
A  stranger  would  hardly  have  chosen  him  as  a  future  son  of 
fortune,  even  from  that  humble  crowd  of  wanderers.  Un 
couth  in  dress  and  manner,  he  would  have  found  small  favor 
in  polite  society,  and  among  those  who  judge  by  things  seen 
on  the  surface. 

Viewed  subjectively  there  is  another  Lincoln,  a  man  of 
promise  and  inevitable  distinction.  Those  who  have  dwelt 


Lincoln's  Environment  in  Indiana  37 

extensively  on  the  objective  aspect  of  Lincoln  have  squan 
dered  sympathy  on  his  want  of  education.  For  though  poor 
in  material  things,  he  was  rich  in  mental  wealth,  in  the  quali 
ties  that  make  manhood,  in  those  virtues  that  survive  the 
mutations  of  time,  that  future  generations  dwell  on  with 
ever  increasing  fondness.  At  the  threshold  of  his  majority 
he  was  already  possessed  of  elemental  ability  and  greatness. 
He  was  one  of  those  rare  souls  that  do  not  lose  the  golden 
ideals  of  youth  with  passing  years.  The  sneers  of  selfish 
men  never  changed  the  primal  sweetness  of  his  nature. 

The  fourteen  years  that  Lincoln  lived  in  Indiana  were 
years  of  splendid  fruition.  By  his  peculiar  process  of  self- 
development  his  mind  had  attained  a  maturity  far  beyond  his 
age.  He  mingled  freely  in  the  world  of  men  and  events.  He 
was  close  to  the  human  heart,  to  the  sorrows  of  the  humble, 
to  the  mute  and  deep  emotions  of  the  lonely  dweller  on  the 
western  farms.  He  loved  the  plain  people.  He  had  the  com 
mand  of  style,  the  ease  and  pith  of  statement  that  schools 
rarely  give.  Ready  of  speech,  he  could  command  the  atten 
tion  of  the  rough  as  well  as  the  sober  minded.  He  was 
already  renowned  as  a  dispenser  of  laughter  through  the 
magic  of  his  stories.  But  above  all  he  was  rarely  gifted 
with  good  sense,  with  a  mind  not  easily  diverted  by  false 
lights,  by  the  glitter  of  objectivity.  He  went  irresistibly  to 
the  root  of  things.  A  man  of  fine  emotions,  wanting  in  the 
small  social  amenities,  he  seldom  went  astray  in  the  domain 
of  reality. 

It  is  also  essential  to  mark  the  practical  character  of  all 
his  learning.  His  knowledge  was  all  useful  and  vitalizing. 
His  mind  was  not  cumbered  with  waste  materials.  His  edu 
cation  was  sound  to  the  core,  was  all  genuine,  well  calculated 
for  a  man  in  the  very  strife  of  life.  Judged  by  the  standard 
of  schools  and  universities  he  was  not  an  educated  man,  but 


38  Lincoln  the  Politician 

judged  by  the  broader  standard  of  thought  and  action  he 
was  supremely  educated,  the  best  educated  man  of  his  time. 
He  served  his  apprenticeship  in  the  school  of  experience 
and  only  needed  opportunity  to  be  of  royal  service  to  his 
fellowmen.  Honest,  homely  and  humble,  he  was  in  harmony 
with  the  average  man  of  his  time,  and  was  well  fitted  to 
become  a  representative  of  the  people. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE    POLITICAL,    HERO    OF    NEW    SALEM 

fTlHE  immediate  occasion  for  the  departure  of  Thomas 
•*•  Lincoln  from  Indiana  was  the  visitation  of  the  mysteri 
ous  ailment  widely  known  as  the  "milk  sick."  The  scant 
progress  made  by  the  family  in  Spencer  County  strength 
ened  his  desire  to  try  his  fortune  in  a  new  land, — a  land 
that  in  the  distance  held  forth  alluring  promises  of  better 
ment. 

They  arrived  in  Illinois  at  the  transitional  period  when 
the  progressive  settler  was  putting  on  the  clothing  of  civili 
zation.  The  concentration  of  population  scattered  the  ob 
stacles  of  progress.  The  wilderness  was  subdued,  and  the 
worth  of  the  prairie  land  proved.  The  howl  of  the  wolf  ever 
growing  fainter  and  fainter  marked  the  hurrying  advance  of 
another  dominion.1  Shyly  but  steadily  style  showed  itself 
in  the  home,  food  and  dress.  Through  the  surface  it  be 
tokened  the  coming  of  a  settled  community;  it  was  the  un 
failing  external  sign  of  prosperity  and  of  fellowship  with 
religion  and  education. 

The  old  pioneer  mourned  the  change.  He  saw  the  loom 
put  away,  and  ribbons  supplant  the  cotton  frock.  With  sad 
dened  heart,  he  met  the  new  civilization.  To  him,  it  was  the 
doom  of  the  old  hospitality,  of  his  freedom,  the  coonskin  cap ; 
the  deer  shoes;  the  log  cabin  built  with  his  own  hands. 
"Hog  and  hominy"  no  longer  waited  on  hunger.  What  his 

'Ford,  94-95. 

39 


40  Lincoln  the  Politician 

child  named  progress  did  not  compensate  him  for  the  flight 
of  the  companions  of  his  youth.  The  pioneer  had  in  the 
name  of  civilization  cleared  the  land  of  the  Indian,  who 
could  not  adapt  himself  to  its  way,  and  now  the  victor  was 
in  turn  to  yield  to  the  same  unrelenting  monarch. 

John  Hanks  was  the  path  finder  for  the  little  colony.  He 
selected  a  place  close  to  Decatur  as  a  home  for  the  wanderers. 
Lincoln  took  a  hand  in  making  the  cabin  which  soon  housed 
his  father  and  family.  But  rather  than  engage  in  manual 
labor,  he  was  alert  to  show  his  skill  as  a  speaker.  "After 
Abe  got  to  Decatur,"  says  John  Hanks,  "or  rather  to 
Macon  (my  county),  a  man  by  the  name  of  Posey  came  into 
our  neighborhood,  and  made  a  speech ;  it  was  a  bad  one,  and 
I  said  Abe  could  beat  it.  I  turned  down  a  box  or  keg,  and 
Abe  made  his  speech.  The  other  man  was  a  candidate.  Abe 
wasn't.  Abe  beat  him  to  death,  his  subject  being  the  navi 
gation  of  the  Sangamon  River.  The  man,  after  the  speech 
was  through,  took  Abe  aside,  and  asked  him  where  he  had 
learned  so  much,  and  how  he  did  so  well.  Abe  replied,  stat 
ing  his  manner  and  method  of  reading,  and  what  he  had  read. 
The  man  encouraged  Lincoln  to  persevere."  2 

Lincoln  fretted  under  the  tutorage  of  his  father,  and 
longed  for  the  hour  of  his  legal  freedom.  When  that  period 
came,  he  promptly  joined  John  Hanks  in  guiding  a  flat  boat 
to  New  Orleans  for  one  Denton  Offutt.3 

Perhaps  the  most  critical  incident  in  the  life  of  Lincoln 
was  this  second  visit  to  New  Orleans.  Hitherto,  with  a  single 
exception,  his  life  was  simple  and  close  to  nature  and  the 
human  heart.  Young  as  he  was,  the  solemnity  of  the  forest, 
the  expanse  of  the  prairie,  the  nearness  to  the  heart  of  things, 
the  problems  of  life  and  their  seriousness  already  cut  their 
lines  in  his  sensitive  organism.  Knowing  little  of  the  mer- 

'Lamon,  78.  *  Ibid.,  78-80. 


The  Political  Hero  of  New  Salem  41 

cantile  world,  in  the  realm  of  thought  he  was  already  master 
of  those  around  him.  There  was  something  of  Hamlet  in 
this  gaunt  youth. 

The  varied  amusements  of  the  southern  city  that  fasci 
nated  his  companions  did  not  move  or  detain  him.  One  sight 
alone  riveted  his  attention.  A  mulatto  girl  was  on  sale.  She 
was  trotted  up  and  down  like  an  animal.  Others  saw  the 
scene  without  flinching.  It  was  nothing  to  them;  no  lash 
on  their  backs.  According  to  Herndon,  the  whole  thing  was 
so  revolting  that  Lincoln  moved  away  from  the  scene  with  a 
deep  feeling  of  hate,  saying  to  his  companions,  "By  God, 
boys,  let's  get  away  from  this.  If  I  ever  get  a  chance  to  hit 
that  thing  (meaning  slavery),  I'll  hit  it  hard."4 

From  that  time  Lincoln  hated  slavery  with  all  his  soul. 
The  slave  dynasty  was  an  organized  evil  of  national  power. 
It  dominated  the  actions  and  even  the  opinions  of  men ;  its 
whisper  silenced  the  voice  of  conscience ;  its  power  dictated 
legislative  policies,  and  was  even  known  to  intrude  into  the 
sanctuary  of  judicial  tribunals.  It  was  not  a  stranger  in 
distinguished  pulpits. 

Lincoln  was  weak,  helpless,  unregarded.  A  blow  from  his 
hand  would  then  fall  impotent  and  unnoticed.  Three  courses 
of  conduct  confronted  him.  He  might,  with  the  majority 
have  become  an  apologist  of  slavery,  as  this  was  the  popular 
highway.  Thus  he  might  have  gained  the  fame  of  Stephen 
A.  Douglas,  but  he  would  not  have  saved  the  nation.  He 
might  have  become  an  aggressive  assailant  of  slavery.  Such 
conduct  would  have  made  him  a  political  outcast  in  New 
Salem.  In  this  way,  he  might  have  won  the  renown  of  a 
Wendell  Phillips  but  he  would  not  have  become  the  national 
helmsman.  He  was  neither  abolitionist  nor  apologist. 

One  other  way  was  open.     He  knew  his  weakness.     The 

*  Herndon,  1,  67. 


42  Lincoln  the  Politician 

day  to  strike  a  blow  had  not  yet  come.  He  held  his  anger 
and  bided  his  hour.  He  would  not  rush,  but  await  the  time 
when  a  blow  from  his  hand  would  long  leave  its  traces  on 
the  evil.  He  turned  back  to  his  work  and  to  his  associates. 
Objectively,  he  was  the  same  as  ever,  but  a  soul  had  been 
awakened  to  the  crime  of  the  ages  that  would  not  rest  until 
the  auction  block  should  be  shattered  and  the  American  soil 
rendered  uneasy  at  the  presence  of  the  human  auctioneer. 
He  knew  that  sooner  or  later  the  occasion  for  action  would 
rejoice  his  soul.  This  faith  reconciled  him  to  the  sluggard 
march  of  events. 

Some  time  in  the  summer  of  1831,  there  drifted  into  the 
thriving  village  of  New  Salem  one  who  was  to  add  lustre  to 
her  name.  Some  days  later  Minter  Graham,  the  school  mas 
ter,  was  "short  of  a  clerk"  at  election.  Asking  a  tall 
stranger  if  he  could  write,  he  was  met  with  the  quaint  reply 
that  he  could  make  a  few  rabbit  marks.  "Lincoln,"  says  the 
school  man,  "performed  the  duties  with  great  facility,  much 
fairness,  and  honesty  and  impartiality.  This  was  the  first 
public  official  act  of  his  life."  5 

Lincoln  first  gained  prestige  in  New  Salem  through  his 
droll  stories.  It  was  the  fast  road  to  the  good  will  of  an 
audience.  In  those  days  when  amusement  was  scant  it  was 
no  mean  gift.  It  was  then  a  kind  of  legal  tender  for  a 
dinner  or  similar  hospitality,  and  in  a  pioneer  community 
popular  favor  is  a  harbinger  of  high  honor.  Lincoln  found 
little  to  do  until  he  became  the  chief  clerk  of  the  presuming 
store  of  Denton  Offutt.  Here  he  rapidly  won  the  regard  of 
the  listener  and  participated  in  many  discussions;  here  he 
met  and  talked  with  the  people,  and  he  made  another  advance 
in  the  public  esteem. 

Like  many  pioneer  communities  New  Salem  was  largely 

'Lamon,  89. 


The  Political  Hero  of  New  Salem  43 

dominated  by  a  rough  crowd  of  young  men,  known  there  as 
the  "Clary  Grove  Boys."  They  were  typical  of  the  class  in 
Illinois  that  stubbornly  yielded  to  the  reign  of  the  law.  They 
rapidly  disappeared  in  settled  communities,  but  in  the  out 
lying  towns,  for  a  long  time,  they  maintained  their  power. 
Usually  acting  in  unison,  they  were  much  sought  by  those 
seeking  political  preferment.  They  attended  church,  heard 
the  sermon,  wept  and  prayed,  shouted,  got  up  and  fought  an 
hour,  and  then  went  back  to  prayer  just  as  the  spirit  moved 
them.6  Rude  and  even  cruel  to  the  traveler,  they  made  mercy 
the  companion  of  the  orphan.  They  had  no  sympathy  for 
weakness,  or  patience  with  culture.  No  stranger  could  attain 
standing  in  their  affection  unless  he  proved  his  worth  in  the 
gantlet  of  a  physical  contest  with  one  of  their  leaders. 

The  enthusiasm  of  Offutt  for  Lincoln  was  boundless.  He 
declared  that,  "Abe  knew  more  than  any  man  in  the  United 
States,"  that  "he  would  some  day  be  President  of  the  United 
States."  All  this  did  not  disturb  the  boys  of  Clary  Grove, 
but  when  he  bragged  "that  he  could,  at  that  present  moment, 
outrun,  whip  or  throw  down  any  man  in  Sangamon  County," 
then  the  pride  of  the  gang  was  awakened.  A  bet  of  ten  dol 
lars  was  made  that  Jack  Armstrong,  their  leader,  "was  a 
better  man  than  Lincoln."  The  newcomer  could  not  well 
avoid  a  combat.  In  the  presence  of  a  host  of  sympathizers 
of  the  Clary  Grove  leader,  the  fight  began.  Lincoln  put 
forth  his  strength  and  the  crowd  saw  Armstrong's  supremacy 
endangered.  In  the  heat  of  the  fray,  they  forgot  the  rules 
of  fair  fighting  and  broke  through  the  ring.  This  angered 
Lincoln,  and  with  a  giant's  effort,  he  gathered  their  cham 
pion  in  his  arms  and  shook  him  like  a  child.  Lincoln's  bear 
ing  won  the  regard  of  Armstrong.  He  grasped  the  hand 
of  the  victor,  proclaiming  in  the  presence  of  his  followers 

•History  of  Sangamon  County,  211. 


44  Lincoln  the  Politician 

that  Lincoln  was  the  best  fellow  that  ever  broke  into  the 
settlement.7  A  wonderful  friendship  resulted.  "Whenever 
Lincoln  worked  Jack  'did  his  loafing';  and,  when  Lincoln 
was  out  of  work,  he  spent  days  and  weeks  together  at  Jack's 
cabin,  where  Jack's  jolly  wife,  'old  Hannah,'  stuffed  him 
with  bread  and  honey,  laughed  at  his  ugliness,  and  loved 
him  for  his  goodness." 

This  was  an  eventful  occasion  in  the  life  of  Lincoln.  The 
humble  ask  little  of  friendship  and  give  much.  A  lover  of 
the  law,  in  a  single  hour  he  became  the  idol  of  the  lawless 
element  in  New  Salem.  From  that  time,  they  submitted  to 
his  guidance.  Respect  for  his  strength  grew  into  admira 
tion  for  his  learning.  Slowly  and  surely,  the  latest  addition 
to  the  gang  tempered  its  harshness.  As  a  member,  he 
achieved  what  would  have  been  impossible  as  a  stranger. 
He  loved  their  virtues,  and  was  gentle  with  their  vices.  So 
it  was  that,  though  he  did  not  drink  or  smoke  with  them, 
they  did  not  think  the  less  of  him.  Lincoln  did  not  laud 
his  freedom  from  failing,  so  they  were  patient  as  children 
with  him,  even  in  his  chiding.  The  source  of  his  influence 
was  sympathy,  and  not  ability ;  solidity  of  character,  not 
brilliancy;  the  simple  virtues,  not  genius. 

Lincoln  was  dowered  with  supreme  physical  strength.  ' 
Rumor  claimed  that  he  could  lift  a  load  of  a  thousand 
pounds.  This  renown  brought  him  further  influence  with 
the  rougher  element.  He  was  also  skilled  in  manual  labor. 
A  settler  relates  that  he  was  the  best  hand  at  husking  corn 
on  the  stalk  that  he  ever  saw.  He  grew  in  the  estimate  of 
the  farmers  around  New  Salem,  in  a  community  where  agri 
culture  was  almost  the  sole  source  of  wealth  and  prosperity. 

Lincoln's  boyish  enthusiasm  for  athletic  events  was  doubt 
less  somewhat  calmed  with  passing  years.     As  other  inter- 
7  Lamon,  90-94.  •  Ibid.  93-94. 


The  Political  Hero  of  New  Salem  45 

ests  dawned  on  him  he  was  persuaded  to  concern  himself 
with  horse  races  and  other  games  of  chance  more  than  his 
judgment  advised.  An  admirer  states,  "I  got  Lincoln,  who 
was  at  the  race,  to  be  a  judge  of  the  race,  much  against  his 
will,  and  after  hard  persuasion.  Lincoln  decided  correctly; 
and  the  other  judge  said  'Lincoln  is  the  fairest  man  I  ever 
had  to  deal  with;  if  Lincoln  is  in  this  country  when  I  die,  I 
want  him  to  be  my  administrator,  for  he  is  the  only  man  I 
ever  met  with  that  was  wholly  and  unselfishly  honest.' ' 

The  steamer  Talisman  in  1832  made  a  trip  to  determine 
the  navigability  of  the  Sangamon.  Lincoln  was  selected  as 
helmsman  from  Beardstown  to  New  Salem.  The  Talisman 
on  the  return  trip  "stuck"  at  the  mill  dam.  Equal  to  the 
emergency,  Lincoln  "rigged  up"  an  apparatus  in  the  pres 
ence  of  the  entire  assembly  of  New  Salem.  All  were  sure 
that  he  had  saved  the  steamer.  The  trip  was  of  vast  worth 
to  Lincoln.  Making  several  speeches  and  shaking  hands  with 
every  one,  in  this  one  week,  he  learned  to  know  more  people 
than  he  would  have  otherwise  met  in  many  months.10 

Lincoln  was  not  only  honest,  but  men  trusted  him.  His 
personality  pervaded  the  community.  So  a  biographer 
states,  "I  once  asked  Rowan  Herndon  what  induced  him  to 
make  such  liberal  terms  in  dealing  with  Lincoln,  whom  he 
had  known  for  so  short  a  time."  "I  believed  that  he  was 
thoroughly  honest,"  was  the  reply,  "and  that  impression 
was  so  strong  in  me  that  I  accepted  his  note  in  payment  of 
the  whole.  He  had  no  money,  but  I  would  have  advanced 
him  still  more  if  he  had  asked  for  it."  11 

Lincoln  was  not  endowed  with  business  skill.  The  only 
failure  he  ever  made  in  life  was  as  a  merchant.  He  had  no 
capacity  for  business.  His  partner  claimed  that  Lincoln 
could  wrap  himself  up  in  a  great  moral  question;  but  that 

9  Lamon,  154.  10  Ross,  112.    Lamon,  81-83.        u  Herndon,  1,  98. 


46  Lincoln  the  Politician 

in  dealing  with  the  financial  and  commercial  interests  of  a 
community  or  government  he  was  as  inadequate  as  he  was 
managing  the  economy  of  his  own  household,  and  that  in 
that  respect  alone  he  always  regarded  Mr.  Lincoln  as  a 
weak  man.12 

Lincoln's  fairness  vied  with  his  sympathy  in  giving  him  a 
peculiar  influence  over  his  fellowmen.  He  made  peace  a  daily 
guest  of  the  rude  crowd.  His  method  was  novel  in  New 
Salem.  A  stranger,  angered  by  the  abuse  of  Jack  Arm 
strong,  struck  him  a  blow  that  felled  the  giant.  Lincoln 
made  himself  the  judge  of  the  event.  "Well,  Jack,"  said  he, 
"what  did  you  say  to  the  man?"  Whereupon  Jack  repeated 
the  words.  "Well,  Jack,"  replied  Abe,  "if  you  were  a  stran 
ger  in  a  strange  town,  as  this  man  is,  and  you  were  called  a 

d d  liar,  &c.,  what  would  you  do?"  "Whip  him,  by 

God!"  "Then  this  man  has  done  no  more  to  you  than  you 
would  have  done  to  him."  "Well,  Abe,"  said  the  honest 
bruiser,  "it's  all  right,"  and,  taking  his  opponent  by  the 
hand,  forgave  him  heartily,  and  "treated."  "Jack"  always 
treated  his  victim  when  he  thought  he  had  been  too  hard  upon 
him.13 

Esteemed  for  his  strength  he  was  loved  for  his  kindness. 
None  could  resist  the  charm  of  his  help  to  the  poor  and  the 
lowly,  to  the  waifs  of  misfortune.  Ab,  a  barefooted  fellow, 
was  chopping  wood  on  a  wintry  day  to  earn  a  dollar  that  he 
might  buy  a  pair  of  shoes.  Lincoln,  seeing  his  plight,  seized 
the  axe,  and  soon  the  job  was  done.  The  story  runs  that 
"Ab  remembered  this  act  with  the  liveliest  gratitude.  Once 
he,  being  a  cast-iron  Democrat,  determined  to  vote  against 
his  party  and  for  Mr.  Lincoln ;  but  the  friends,  as  he  after 
wards  said  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  made  him  drunk,  and  he 
had  voted  against  Abe."  14  Chandler,  a  poor  settler,  desir- 
"Herndon,  1,  165-6.  "Lamon,  94-95.  "  Ibid.,  152-153. 


The  Political  Hero  of  New  Salem  47 

ing  to  enter  a  small  tract  of  land  that  was  coveted  by  a  rich 
neighbor,  started  for  Springfield  at  the  same  time  with  his 
rival  and  on  the  same  mission.  On  the  way  Chandler  met 
Lincoln.  Noticing  that  the  horse  of  Chandler  could  not 
stand  a  forced  march,  Lincoln  gave  him  his  horse — fresh  and 
full  of  grit.  Between  the  two,  a  friendship  sprang  up  which 
all  the  political  discords  of  twenty-five  years  never  shattered 
nor  strained.15 

He  was  active  in  the  first  debating  organization  of  New 
Salem.  Those  who  knew  him  for  his  strength  were  amazed 
at  the  logic  of  his  statements.  The  president  of  this  society 
said  to  his  wife  that  there  was  more  in  Abe's  head  than  wit 
and  fun ;  that  he  was  already  a  fine  speaker ;  that  he  only 
lacked  culture  to  enable  him  to  reach  the  high  destiny  in 
store  for  him.  Thereafter  the  president  displayed  a  deeper 
interest  in  his  progress.  During  one  of  the  debates,  Lincoln 
dashed  into  a  controversy  on  slavery,  dilating  on  its  malig 
nancy,  deploring  the  dark  and  hopeless  state  of  the  poor 
white  man.  With  discernment  he  placed  his  hand  on  the 
mischief,  the  creation  of  an  aristocracy  in  a  republic ;  the 
resulting  conflict  between  the  doctrine  of  the  fathers  and 
that  of  the  children ;  between  the  North  and  the  South.  His 
discussion  ranged  over  the  consequences.  He  pictured  the 
grapple  of  opposing  principles ;  a  land  drenched  with  frater 
nal  blood.16  A  biographer  is  justified  in  contending  that  he 
became  as  familiar  for  the  goodness  of  his  understanding  as 
for  the  muscular  power  of  his  body,  and  the  unfailing  humor 
of  his  talk.17 

With  the  arrival  of  spring  in  1832,  the  Black  Hawk  War 
broke  out.    A  company  was  organized  in  Sangamon  County 
for  immediate  service.     The  first  fruit  of  Lincoln's  popu 
larity  with  "the  boys"  was  his  decisive  election  as  captain, 
"Herndon,  1,  115-116.     "Maltby,  33.  "Lamon,  96. 


48  Lincoln  the  Politician 

His  opponent  was  a  man  of  means.  The  manner  of  election 
was  democratic.  Lincoln  and  his  antagonist  stood  some 
distance  apart,  while  the  men  showed  their  preference  by 
taking  their  place  near  the  man  of  their  choice.  The  one 
with  the  most  adherents  was  selected  for  leadership.  Lin 
coln  made  a  very  modest  speech  to  his  comrades,  expressing 
his  gratification,  and  telling  them  how  undeserved  he  thought 
it  was  and  promised  that  he  would  do  the  best  he  could  to 
prove  himself  worthy  of  their  confidence.18 

The  captain  needed  the  mastery  of  his  temper  to  control 
the  lawless  spirit  of  the  volunteers.  Accustomed  to  be 
cajoled  in  politics,  they  were  not  ready  for  obedience  even 
in  the  shadow  of  war.  A  story  has  been  told  that  Capt. 
Lincoln's  first  command  was  answered  by  being  told  to  "go 
to  the  devil."  19 

Lincoln  was  jealous  of  the  welfare  of  his  men.  Thinking 
them  maltreated,  he  told  an  officer  of  the  regular  army  that 
they  were  volunteers  under  the  regulations  of  Illinois,  and 
that  resistance  would  thereafter  be  made  to  unjust  orders; 
that  his  men  must  be  equal  in  all  particulars,  in  rations, 
arms  and  camps,  to  the  regular  army.  The  officer  saw  that 
Lincoln  was  right,  and  thereafter  they  were  treated  like  the 
regular  army.  This  efficient  service  in  behalf  of  the  volun 
teers  drew  officers  and  rank  to  him.20 

During  the  march  a  peaceable  Indian  strayed  into  camp 
and  was  at  the  mercy  of  the  soldiers.  This  old  man  showed 
a  letter  from  General  Cass  testifying  to  his  fidelity;  the 
enraged  men  pronounced  it  a  forgery,  and  rushed  upon  him. 
The  captain  stepped  between.  "Men,  this  must  not  be  done. 
He  must  not  be  shot  and  killed  by  us."  The  passion  of  the 
mob  was  stayed  by  this  exhibition  of  courage,  not  allayed. 
One  bolder  than  his  fellows  cried  out,  "This  is  cowardly  on 

18Lamon,  101-102.  "Stevens,  277.  20Lamon,  111. 


The  Political  Hero  of  New  Salem  49 

your  part,  Lincoln."  The  captain  towered  in  lonely  power. 
"If  any  man  thinks  I  am  a  coward  let  him  test  it."  A  new 
voice  was  heard,  "You  are  larger  and  heavier  than  we  are." 
"This  you  can  easily  guard  against.  Choose  your  weapons." 
The  word  coward  was  never  again  coupled  with  his  name. 
"He  has  often  declared  himself,  that  his  life  and  character 
were  both  at  stake,  and  would  probably  have  been  lost,  had 
he  not  at  that  supremely  critical  moment  forgotten  the 
officer,  and  asserted  the  man.  To  have  ordered  the  offenders 
under  arrest  would  have  created  a  formidable  mutiny ;  to 
have  tried  and  punished  them  would  have  been  impossible. 
They  could  scarcely  be  called  soldiers;  they  were  merely 
armed  citizens,  with  a  nominal  military  organization.  They 
were  but  recently  enlisted,  and  their  term  of  service  was 
just  about  to  expire.  Had  he  preferred  charges  against 
them,  and  offered  to  submit  their  differences  to  a  court  of 
any  sort,  it  would  have  been  regarded  as  an  act  of  personal 
pusillanimity,  and  his  efficiency  would  have  been  gone  for 
ever."  21 

Lincoln  and  other  volunteers  arrived  home  just  before  the 
State  election.  That  New  Salem  should  present  Lincoln  as 
a  candidate  for  the  Legislature  was  the  natural  culmination 
of  his  position  in  the  community.  His  friends  were  heart 
and  soul  in  the  cause.  His  record  as  a  soldier  increased  the 
interest  of  his  companions  and  his  associates  in  the  election. 

Lincoln  allied  himself  with  the  Whig  organization  and 
championed  its  principles.  The  popular  party  in  Sangamon 
County  prided  themselves  on  their  devotion  to  Andrew  Jack 
son.  They  derisively  called  their  opponents  "Federalists," 
while  the  latter  struggled  "to  shuffle  off  the  odious  name."22 
Lamon  argues  that  Lincoln  was  a  nominal  Jackson  man  on 
the  ground  that  he  received  the  votes  of  all  parties  at  New 

"  Lamon,  109.  "Ibid.,  122. 


50  Lincoln  the  Politician 

Salem,  that  he  was  the  next  year  appointed  postmaster  by 
General  Jackson ;  that  the  Democrats  ran  him  for  the  Legis 
lature  two  years  later,  and  that  he  was  elected  by  a  larger 
majority  than  any  other  candidate.23  These  reasons  are 
without  weight.  Party  lines  at  the  time  were  not  yet  closely 
drawn,  and  the  supreme  personal  popularity  of  Lincoln  suf 
fered  little  from  the  partisanship  of  that  period.  It  is  a 
distinct  mark  of  Lincoln's  courage  and  his  love  of  principle 
that  he  devoted  himself  to  the  weaker  party  of  Illinois. 
Selfish  ambition  would  have  advised  alliance  with  the  domi 
nant  organization.  Still,  the  better  element  in  Sangamon 
County  was  largely  attracted  to  the  Whig  side.  Lincoln 
coming  from  the  company  of  the  Clary  Grove  boys,  enthusi 
asts  for  Jackson,  fearlessly  decided  his  political  relations. 
National  history  might  have  been  changed  if  Abraham  Lin 
coln  had  consulted  his  companions,  or  temporary  interest  in 
the  selection  of  party  affiliation. 

After  his  return  from  the  war,  he  threw  himself  into  the 
campaign  of  1832.  In  his  first  speech,  just  as  he  started, 
he  saw  that  a  friend  was  getting  worsted  in  a  fight  near  by. 
Hurrying  from  the  platform,  he  grasped  the  offender  and 
threw  him  some  ten  feet  away.  He  then  again  mounted  the 
eminence  and  delivered  the  following  address :  "Gentlemen  and 
Fellow  Citizens,  I  presume  you  all  know  who  I  am.  I  am 
humble  Abraham  Lincoln.  I  have  been  solicited  by  many 
friends  to  become  a  candidate  for  the  Legislature.  My 
politics  are  short  and  sweet,  like  the  old  woman's  dance.  I 
am  in  favor  of  a  national  bank.  I  am  in  favor  of  the  internal 
improvement  system  and  a  high  protective  tariff.  These  are 
my  sentiments  and  political  principles.  If  elected,  I  shall 
be  thankful;  if  not,  it  will  be  all  the  same."  24 

Making  a  speech  under  such  conditions  was  a  more  thor- 
a'Lamon,  123-124.  ™Ibid.,  125-126. 


The  Political  Hero  of  New  Salem  51 

ough  preparation  for  the  activities  of  life  than  the  training 
of  schools  and  even  universities  afford  its  votaries.  This  talk 
is  frank  and  bold.  It  early  avows  sentiments  hostile  to  the 
administration  in  power.  It  reveals  the  "Whiggism"  of  the 
orator.  It  is  a  product  of  the  times ;  a  speech  to  be  expected 
from  a  young  speaker  sensitive  to  his  surroundings. 

The  testimony  of  Judge  Logan  shows  that  Lincoln  had  in 
his  youth  a  mature  mind.  "He  was  a  very  tall,  gawky,  and 
rough  looking  fellow  then;  his  pantaloons  didn't  meet  his 
shoes  by  six  inches.  But  after  he  began  speaking  I  became 
very  much  interested  in  him.  He  made  a  very  sensible  speech. 
Plis  manner  was  very  much  the  same  as  in  after  life ;  that 
is,  the  same  peculiar  characteristics  were  apparent  then, 
though  of  course  in  after  years  he  evinced  more  knowledge 
and  experience.  But  he  had  then  the  same  novelty  and  the 
same  peculiarity  in  presenting  his  ideas.  He  had  the  same 
individuality  that  he  kept  through  all  his  life."  25 

A  companion  allows  us  a  view  of  Lincoln  as  a  politician  at 
this  period.  Deferential  to  the  rich,  agreeable  to  the  poor, 
he  was  at  home  everywhere.  He  talked  with  the  husband 
and  wife  about  their  hopes  in  life,  about  the  school  and 
the  farm.  The  mother  would  hear  with  joy  of  her  fine  chil 
dren;  Willie  was  the  image  of  father;  Sarah  the  most  beau 
tiful,  and  looked  like  her  mother.  The  distribution  of  nuts 
and  candy  captured  the  children.  During  the  preparation 
for  supper,  he  would  walk  over  the  farm  with  his  host,  and  be 
shown  its  worth.  After  the  meal  he  would  tell  the  boys  and 
girls  stories  of  the  trials  of  frontier  life  in  Indiana.  He  thus 
secured  the  esteem  of  all. 

Early  in  this  campaign,  he  issued  a  political  circular.  This 
first  written  address  of  Lincoln  should  command  attention. 
It  contains  abundant  evidence  of  close  thinking,  political 
M  Nicolay  &  Hay,  1,  108. 


52  Lincoln  the  Politician 

sagacity  and  quaint  utterance.  This  youthful  appeal  of 
Lincoln  is  a  sober  production  expressing  thoughts  that  go 
straight  to  the  mind.  The  circular  is  conclusive  that  his 
style  and  his  thought  were  not  altogether  the  fruition  of  his 
maturity. 

The  address  deals  mainly  with  the  navigability  of  the 
Sangamon  River.  No  theme  was  closer  to  the  people  in  the 
county.  The  arrival  of  the  steamer  Talisman  had  been 
hailed  with  rapture.  A  newspaper  thus  gave  utterance  to 
the  common  feeling:  "We  congratulate  our  farmers,  our  me 
chanics,  our  merchants  and  our  professional  men,  for  the 
rich  harvest  in  prospect,  and  we  cordially  invite  emigrating 
citizens  from  other  states,  whether  rich  or  poor,  if  so  they 
are  industrious  and  honest,  to  come  thither  and  partake  of 
the  good  things  of  Sangamon."  26  The  enthusiasm  reached 
the  women,  for  they  indulged  in  a  grand  ball  to  honor  the 
occasion.27  The  ardent  championship  of  this  vain  proposal, 
for  it  was  never  either  effected  or  seriously  attempted,  is 
proof  that  Lincoln  was  a  student  of  popularity.  At  this 
period  he  proclaimed  the  doctrine  that  the  representative  of 
the  people  should  reflect  the  known  views  of  his  constitu 
ency.28 

He  next  paid  heed  to  the  problem  of  usury.  Money,  al 
ways  seeking  the  highest  bidder,  preyed  on  the  industry  of 
the  people.  The  common  contract  rate  was  about  fifty  per 
cent.  In  many  instances  it  rose  to  more  than  one  hundred, 
and  unfortunates  even  paid  two  or  three  times  as  much.29 
"It  seems,"  Lincoln  said,  "as  though  we  are  never  to  have 
an  end  to  this  baneful  and  corroding  system,  acting  almost 
as  prejudicial  to  the  general  interests  of  the  community  as 
a  direct  tax  of  several  thousand  dollars  annually  laid  on 

"History  of  Sangamon  County,  53,       ^Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  7, 
"Ibid.  a'Lamon,  133. 


The  Political  Hero  of  New  Salem  53 

each  county  for  the  benefit  of  a  few  individuals  only,  unless 
there  be  a  law  made  fixing  the  limits  of  usury.  A  law  for 
this  purpose,  I  am  of  the  opinion,  may  be  made  without 
materially  injuring  any  class  of  people.  In  cases  of  extreme 
necessity,  there  could  always  be  means  found  to  dheat  the 
law ;  while  in  other  cases  it  would  have  its  intended  effect.  I 
would  favor  the  passage  of  a  law  on  this  subject  which  might 
not  be  easily  evaded.  Let  it  be  such  that  the  labor  and  diffi 
culty  of  evading  it  could  only  be  justified  in  cases  of  great 
est  necessity."  30  This  rather  remarkable  admission  is  inter 
esting  in  view  of  his  subsequent  utterances  on  the  sacred  en 
forcement  of  all  laws  lest  single  relaxations  prove  an  induce 
ment  for  other  violation. Si 

A  rather  becoming  modesty  pervades  the  conclusion  of 
his  address.  He  maintained  that  he  might  be  wrong  in 
regard  to  any  or  all'the  subjects  he  discussed,  declaring  that 
it  was  better  only  sometimes  to  be  right  than  at  all  times  to 
be  wrong,  that  he  was  ready  to  renounce  his  opinions  as  soon 
as  he  discovered  them  to  be  erroneous.32 

"Every  man,"  he  observed,  "is  said  to  have  his  peculiar 
ambition.  Whether  it  be  true  or  not,  I  can  say  for  one  that 
I  have  no  other  so  great  as  that  of  being  truly  esteemed  of 
my  fellow-men,  by  rendering  myself  worthy  of  their  es 
teem."  33  This  illumines  our  limited  knowledge  of  his  attitude 
toward  an  essential  problem  of  life.  Lincoln  did  not  fling 
away  ambition.  With  patient  footstep  he  restlessly  followed 
the  vision  of  higher  place  along  the  road  of  helpful  service 
to  his  fellow-men.  As  he  rose  in  influence,  he  never  forsook 
his  early  ideals ;  that  the  measure  of  success  was  worthiness 
and  not  station,  that  power  was  only  respectable  as  it  was 
mercifully  exercised.  He  believed  that  altruistic  responsibil- 

80  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  3.  **  Ibid.,  4. 

"Ibid.,  12.  nlbid. 


54  Lincoln  the  Politician 

ity  expanded  with  growing  opportunities.  His  good  deeds, 
not  his  personal  wants,  grew  with  his  growth. 

He  did  not  rest  with  an  appeal  to  the  reason  of  men.  He 
deftly  put  in  motion  the  human  chord  in  democracy  that 
vibrates  to  the  poor  and  the  struggling.  He  declared  that 
he  was  young  and  unknown ;  that  he  was  born,  and  would 
ever  remain,  in  the  most  humble  walks  of  life ;  that  he  had  no 
wealthy  or  popular  relations  or  friends  to  recommend  him ; 
that  his  case  was  thrown  exclusively  upon  the  independent 
voters  of  the  county ;  and  that,  if  elected,  they  would  have 
conferred  a  favor  upon  him,  for  which  he  would  be  unremit 
ting  in  his  labors  to  compensate.34 

"But,  if  the  good  people,"  he  concluded,  "in  their  wisdom 
shall  see  fit  to  keep  me  in  the  background,  I  have  been  too 
familiar  with  disappointments  to  be  very  much  chagrined."  35 
Suffused  with  seeming  humor  and  the  pathos  of  half  hidden 
tragedy  this  averment  brings  us  face  to  face  with  a  life  re 
luctantly  asserting  its  individuality.  It  is  hardly  strange 
that  one  who  pronounces  himself  a  companion  of  many  dis 
appointments  when  only  twenty-three  years  old  should  soon 
get  the  name  of  "Old  Abe."  Sorrow  had  already  left  its 
traces  on  his  heart  and  brain,  so  that  the  appellation  was 
fitting.  Still,  he  encountered  uncomplainingly  the  exigencies 
of  human  events. 

"The  Democrats  of  New  Salem  worked  for  Lincoln  out  of 
their  personal  regard  for  him.  That  was  the  general  un 
derstanding  of  the  matter  here  at  the  time.  In  this  he  made 
no  concession  of  principle  whatever.  He  was  as  stiff  as  a 
man  could  be  in  his  Whig  doctrines.  They  did  this  for  him 
simply  because  he  was  popular — because  he  was  Lincoln."  30 
Despite  the  efforts  of  his  friends  in  New  Salem,  Lincoln  was 

84  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  4.  8a  Nicolay  &  Hay,  1,  102-103. 

85  Ibid. 


The  Political  Hero  of  New  Salem  55 

yet  too  little  known  to  be  elected  a  representative  of  Sanga- 
mon  County. 

One  fact  stands  out  boldly.  Out  of  the  total  300  votes 
cast  in  the  precinct  of  New  Salem,  where  he  was  best  known, 
Lincoln  received  277. 37  This  did  not  pass  without  the  scru 
tiny  of  those  who  studied  the  details  of  local  politics.  It 
revealed  an  amazing  popularity.  It  was  a  defeat  that  prac 
ticed  politicians  knew  betokened  future  triumphs.  It  marked 
the  trail  of  a  triumphing  career  in  the  common  course  of 
events.  With  ardent  pride,  he  later  said  of  this  defeat,  that 
it  was  the  only  time  he  was  ever  beaten  on  a  direct  vote  of 
the  people.38 

John  Calhoun,  a  stalwart  Democrat,  a  surveyor  in  Sanga- 
mon  County,  and  later  infamous  in  Kansas  history,  needed 
a  deputy.  He  selected  Lincoln,  who  thereupon  retreated  to  a 
farm  of  the  schoolmaster  Graham,  where  he  studied  a  book 
on  surveying.  Struggling  with  the  task  for  six  weeks,  he 
came  forth  prepared  for  his  new  work.  He  so  mastered  the 
subject  that  he  became  renowned  for  the  accuracy  of  his 
measurements.  "If  I  can  be  perfectly  free,"  Lincoln  is  re 
ported  to  have  said,  "in  my  political  action,  I  will  take  the 
office,  but  if  my  sentiments  or  even  expression  of  them  is  to 
be  abridged  in  any  way  I  would  not  have  it  or  any  other 
office."39  This  story  is  rather  heroic.  The  work  was  of  a 
business  character,  and  politics  did  not  dictate  every  act  of 
Calhoun ;  he  was  willing  to  help  a  worthy  ambitious  young 
man.  On  the  other  hand,  the  store  of  Lincoln  had  "winked 
out";  he  had  nothing  to  do;  he  was  eager  to  enter  into  an 
honorable  vocation  without  an  inquisition  into  the  motives 
of  Calhoun.  It  was  a  friendly  act  without  any  suggestion 
of  political  obligation;  a  kindly  service  that  cemented  a 

87  Nicolay  &  Hay,  1,  109.      Tarbell,  1,  91.       »  Herndon,  1,  111. 
38  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  641. 


56  Lincoln  the  Politician  » 

friendship  never  severed,  though  they  met  as  rivals  on  the 
field  of  controversy.  Even  in  the  days  when  it  was  common 
to  blacken  the  name  of  Calhoun,  Lincoln  never  joined  in  the 
general  hue  and  cry.40 

The  acceptance  of  the  office  of  postmaster  at  New  Salem, 
under  the  administration  of  General  Jackson,  had  no  par 
ticular  bearing  upon  the  political  views  of  Abraham  Lincoln. 
The  office  was  of  so  little  monetary  importance,  that  Lincoln 
carried  its  whole  contents  in  his  hat.  He  was  the  only  man 
of  standing  in  the  community  that  could  afford  to  give  it 
abundant  attention  for  the  small  pay.  The  office  was  doubt 
less  freely  tendered,  the  more  freely  as  Lincoln  was  not  of  a 
partisan  temperament.  It  was  of  value  to  him.  It  enabled 
him  to  be  of  service  and  thus  gain  the  good  will  of  many. 
He  readily  made  known  the  contents  of  letters  to  the  illiter 
ate.  He  also  read  aloud  to  the  inhabitants  gathered  at  the 
store,  all  the  news  from  the  recent  papers.41 

"The  first  time  I  ever  saw  Abe  with  a  law-book  in  his  hand," 
says  Squire  Godbey,  "he  was  sitting  astride  Jake  Bale's  wood 
pile  in  New  Salem.  Says  I,  'Abe,  what  are  you  studying?' — 
'Law,'  says  Abe.  'Great  God  Almighty!'  responded  I."42 
Lincoln  states  in  his  campaign  biography  that  one  of  his 
fellow  candidates,  Major  John  T.  Stuart,  in  his  first  canvass 
encouraged  him  to  study  law,  and  that  after  election  he  bor 
rowed  books  of  Stuart  and  went  at  it  in  good  earnest.  He 
also  states  that  he  never  studied  with  anybody.43 

During  his  legal  apprenticeship  of  three  or  four  years,  he 
was  at  the  call  of  every  citizen.  He  wrote  deeds,  contracts 
and  other  legal  papers,  and  often  appeared  before  the  local 
Justice  of  the  Peace.  All  this  service  was  free.  He  was 
not  forgotten  by  those  he  helped.  Even  when  he  moved  to 

40Lamon,  148.  42  Ibid.,  140. 

"Ibid.  *3  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  642. 


The  Political  Hero  of  New  Salem  57 

Springfield,  his  New  Salem  friends  found  that  his  counsel  was 
ever  at  their  disposal.  His  door  was  as  open  to  poverty  as 
to  riches.  His  study  of  the  law  widened  the  exercise  of  his 
sympathy  and  his  usefulness.  Then,  too,  every  satisfied 
client  was  likely  to  become  a  political  supporter. 

It  would  have  been  amazing  if  Lincoln  had  come  short  of 
being  the  hero  of  New  Salem.  He  won  "golden  opinions" 
from  every  class  of  men.  His  popularity  had  a  substantial 
basis.  He  rode  into  favor  on  the  tide  of  service  to  his  fellow- 
men.  Wholesale  dispenser  of  laughter  and  sympathy,  clerk 
at  a  store  of  the  village,  athlete  of  renown,  arbiter  of  fights 
and  games,  pilot  on  a  memorable  journey,  a  debater  of  singu 
lar  skill,  an  orator  commanding  attention,  a  sincere  student, 
a  soldier  of  some  distinction,  popular  postmaster,  a  skilled 
surveyor,  and  later  a  lawyer  and  legislator — master  in  all 
these  relations,  he  proved  his  worth  and  value  to  the  com 
munity.  No  man  was  more  thoroughly  gifted  in  the  quali 
ties  of  manhood  and  character  that  lodge  in  the  human  heart. 
He  took  up  the  harp  of  pioneer  life  and  smote  all  "the  vital 
chords  with  might."  Attuned  to  the  lowly  sentiments,  to  the 
humble  ways  and  the  hardships  of  the  people  of  the  prairie, 
his  sympathies  were  as  broad  as  the  plains  of  Sangamon 
County.  The  drunkard,  the  outcast,  the  children  and  the 
women,  the  rowdy  and  the  ruffian,  the  teacher,  the  store  keep 
er,  and  politicians,  all  were  his  friends.  He  was  odd  in  liking 
so  many  of  his  kind,  in  the  universality  of  his  sympathies. 

While  Lincoln  acted  from  a  "full  warm  heart,"  policy 
could  not  have  dictated  wiser  conduct  for  a  political  career. 
Could  genius  have  planned  the  course,  it  would  not  have 
added  greater  skill  to  its  success.  His  very  faults  were  the 
highway  to  public  esteem.  Almost  every  man,  each  woman 
and  child  in  New  Salem  were  gladdened  by  his  honest  hand 
shake,  the  cheer  of  his  voice  and  the  charm  of  his  character. 


CHAPTER  IV 

PRACTICAL    LEGISLATOR 

fame  of  Lincoln  as  a  law  student  and  lawyer,  as 
•••  surveyor  and  postmaster,  spread  beyond  New  Salem,  and 
the  qualities  that  had  attracted  local  distinction  continued 
to  find  him  admirers  in  a  broader  world.    He  steadily  gained 
headway  with  an  ever  growing  audience. 

Naturally,  the  Whigs  gave  him  concerted  support  as  one 
of  their  candidates  for  the  Legislature  of  1834.  In  addition 
he  made  large  inroads  into  the  Democratic  party.  Its  lead 
ers  sought  to  diminish  the  strength  his  name  would  add  to 
the  Whig  ticket  by  adopting  him  as  one  of  their  candidates.1 
The  flattering  proposal  was  not  swallowed  by  Lincoln.  He 
realized  that  acceptance  might  involve  estrangement  from 
his  own  party — no  small  matter  for  one  who  was  ambitious 
politically.  He  was  wise  enough  to  counsel  with  the  leading 
Whigs  and  his  personal  friends  as  to  the  prudence  of  such 
an  alliance.  They  advised  an  agreement.  It  is  claimed  by 
Lamon  that  Lincoln  and  Dawson  made  a  bargain  with  the 
Democratic  party  that  nearly  demoralized  the  Whigs,  decid 
edly  weakening  the  vote  of  their  favorite  champion,  Major 
Stuart.2  In  fact,  the  alliance  was  more  disastrous  to  the 
enemy.  The  Whigs  fared  well,  as  it  was,  in  the  campaign ; 
and  in  a  year  or  two,  Sangamon  County,  a  former  strong 
hold  of  Jackson,  passed  into  the  control  of  the  followers  of 
Clay. 

1  Lamon,  155-156.  *  Ibid.,  156. 

08 


Practical  Legislator  69 

We  have  no  evidence  as  to  whether  Lincoln  was  less  a  par 
tisan  in  the  campaign  as  the  result  of  Democratic  endorse 
ment.  It  was  largely  a  "hand  shaking"  canvass,  a  man  to 
man  combat.  Affable  to  every  one,  Lincoln  was  master 
in  this  mode  of  securing  support.  On  one  occasion  he  came 
upon  thirty  men  in  a  field.  They  declared  they  would  not 
vote  for  a  man  unless  he  could  make  a  hand.  "Well,  boys," 
said  he,  "if  that  is  all,  I  am  sure  of  your  votes."  Taking 
hold  of  the  cradle,  he  led  the  way  all  the  round  with  perfect 
ease,  and  the  boys  were  satisfied.3 

"The  next  day  he  was  speaking  at  Berlin.  He  went  from 
my  house  with  Dr.  Barnett,  the  man  that  had  asked  me  who 
this  man  Lincoln  was.  I  told  him  that  he  was  a  candidate 
for  the  Legislature.  He  laughed  and  said,  'Can't  the  party 
raise  no  better  material  than  that?'  I  said,  'Go  to-morrow, 
and  hear  all  before  you  pronounce  judgment.'  When  he 
came  back,  I  said,  'Doctor,  what  say  you  now?'  'Why,  sir,' 
said  he,  'he  is  a  perfect  take-in;  he  knows  more  than  all  of 
them  put  together.'  "4 

"Mr.  J.  R.  Herndon,  his  friend  and  landlord,  heard  him 
make  several  speeches  about  this  time,  and  gives  us  the  fol 
lowing  extract  from  one,  which  seems  to  have  made  a  special 
impression  upon  the  minds  of  his  auditors :  'Fellow  citizens, 
I  have  been  told  that  some  of  my  opponents  have  said  that 
it  was  a  disgrace  to  the  County  of  Sangamon  to  have  such 
a  looking  man  as  I  am  stuck  up  for  the  Legislature.  Now, 
I  thought  this  was  a  free  country;  that  is  the  reason  I  ad 
dress  you  to-day.  Had  I  known  to  the  contrary,  I  should 
not  have  consented  to  run;  but  I  will  say  one  thing,  let  the 
shoe  pinch  where  it  may;  when  I  have  been  a  candidate  be 
fore  you  five  or  six  times,  and  have  been  beaten  every  time, 
I  will  consider  it  a  disgrace,  and  will  be  sure  never  to  try  it 
"Lamon,  156.  *  Ibid. 


60  Lincoln  the  Politician 

again ;  but  I  am  bound  to  beat  that  man  if  I  am  beat  myself. 
Mark  that!"55 

Voting  at  this  period  was  viva  voce  and  not  by  ballot. 
One  seeking  the  vote  of  Lincoln,  pompously  supported  him. 
Lincoln  thereupon  voted  against  that  candidate.  Those  who 
witnessed  the  action  marveled  much  and  approved  his  con 
duct.6  At  this  election,  of  the  four  successful  candidates 
for  Sangamon  County,  Dawson  received  1390  votes ;  Lincoln 
followed  with  1376.  Stuart,  the  popular  Whig,  had  nearly 
200  votes  less.7  These  figures  speak  with  eloquence  of  the 
advance  made  by  the  surveyor  in  two  years. 

"After  he  was  elected  to  the  Legislature,"  says  Mr.  Smoot, 
"he  came  to  my  house  one  day  in  company  with  Hugh 
Armstrong.  Says  he,  'Smoot,  did  you  vote  for  me?'  I  told 
him  I  did.  'Well,'  says  he,  'you  must  loan  me  money  to  buy 
suitable  clothing,  for  I  want  to  make  a  decent  appear 
ance  in  the  Legislature.'  I  then  loaned  him  two  hundred 
dollars,  which  he  returned  to  me  according  to  promise."  8 

Compelled  by  events  to  be  his  own  teacher,  Lincoln  learned 
to  depend  on  his  own  resources.  Reared  in  a  rough  school, 
accustomed  to  be  a  leader  among  his  intellectual  inferiors, 
still,  in  all  humility,  he  looked  to  his  legislative  experience 
with  joy.  Deprecating  his  kind  of  education,  open  minded 
he  anxiously  awaited  the  privilege  of  associating  with  many 
of  the  leading  men  of  the  State.  There  gathered  at  the  Capi 
tol  its  best  blood,  the  choice  sons  of  Illinois,  the  representa 
tives  of  the  ambition,  the  intelligence,  and  the  popularity  of 
the  State.  "The  society  of  Vandalia  and  the  people  attracted 
thither  by  the  Legislature  made  it,  for  that  early  day,  a  gay 
place  indeed.  Compared  to  Lincoln's  former  environments,  it 
had  no  lack  of  refinement  and  polish.  That  he  absorbed  a 

6Lamon,  127.  'Herndon,   1,   118. 

6  Nicolay  &  Hay,  1,  67.  8  Lamon,  157. 


Practical  Legislator  61 

good  deal  of  this  by  contact  with  the  men  and  women  who 
surrounded  him,  there  can  be  no  doubt.  "The  'drift  of  senti 
ment  and  the  sweep  of  civilization'  at  this  time  can  best  be 
measured  by  the  character  of  the  legislation.  There  were 
acts  to  incorporate  banks,  turnpikes,  bridges,  insurance  com 
panies,  towns,  railroads  and  female  academies.  The  vigor 
and  enterprise  of  New  England  fusing  with  the  illusory  pres 
tige  of  Kentucky  and  Virginia  was  fast  forming  a  new  civili 
zation  to  spread  over  the  prairies."  9 

Lincoln  with  modesty  remained  a  witness  of  the  doings 
of  the  Legislature.  Content  to  wait  for  the  fitting  time  to 
make  an  impression,  he  did  not  rush  into  debate.  It  was  a 
scouting  period.  Scanty  of  talk,  rich  in  thought,  ever  on 
the  lookout  for  information,  steady  in  attendance,  studying 
parliamentary  procedure,  he  gained  a  name  for  solidity,  far 
better  than  brilliancy  or  oratory  for  real  influence  in  a 
legislative  body.10 

Lincoln  forgot  the  prudence  expressed  in  his  first  circular, 
for  he  jumped  into  the  movement  that  hurried  along  the  in 
ternal  improvement  policy.  His  practice  was  behind  his 
theory  in  matters  of  finance. 

Lincoln  made  little  stir  in  this  session,  he  took  no  glorious 
part  in  its  deliberations,  and  made  no  record  for  independ 
ence.  He  usually  voted  with  the  members  of  his  party.  He 
became  grounded  in  the  finesse  of  law  making,  an  art  whose 
acquirement  and  importance  are  seldom  considered.  For 
method  as  well  as  merit  is  an  element  in  the  making  of  the 
statute.  Still,  in  measuring  himself  with  his  associates,  he 
gained  confidence  and  found  that  he  was  not  far  behind  in 
the  training  for  political  prosperity.  While  he  would  not 
deceive,  he  learned  how  not  to  be  deceived.  He  discovered 
that  men  in  the  Senate  are  not  of  a  far  different  order  from 
"Herndon,  1,  155.  "Ibid. 


62  Lincoln  the  Politician 

those  in  the  field ;  that  culture  often  hides  a  mean  soul ;  that 
polish  is  often  the  tinsel  of  education.  He  remained  the 
same  Lincoln,  longing  for  the  reality  of  the  old  life  without 
pretense.  He  was  content  to  return  to  his  admirers  in  Clary 
Grove,  with  no  exaltation  or  pride  in  his  new  distinction  as 
legislator. 

A  special  session  of  the  Legislature  was  held  in  December, 
1835.  One  of  the  evils  of  the  time  was  the  eagerness  of 
representatives  for  public  offices  of  a  more  permanent  char 
acter  than  the  uncertain  tenure  of  popular  election.  New 
offices  were  constantly  created.  Lincoln  took  a  bold  stand  on 
the  danger.  He  voted  with  the  majority  that  the  election 
of  a  member  of  the  Legislature  to  a  State  office  was  corrupt 
ing.  He  voted  with  the  minority  to  apply  the  principle  also 
to  relatives  and  connections  of  the  members.  Lincoln  re 
mained  a  persistent  supporter  of  internal  improvements. 
Some  of  the  advocates  shifted  their  votes  from  time  to  time, 
but  he  remained  constant  in  his  devotion. 

The  influence  of  Lincoln  extended  over  a  widening  terri 
tory  and  his  fame  spread  with  new  opportunities.  After 
two  scant  years  of  public  life,  he  was  considered  among  the 
leaders  of  his  party.  No  longer  waiting  on  the  advice  of 
friends,  he  offered  himself  as  a  candidate  for  renomination. 
He  initiated  his  campaign  with  the  following  political  fulmi- 
nation : 

"To  the  Editor  of  the  'Journal':  In  your  paper  of  last 
Saturday  I  see  a  communication,  over  the  signature  of  'Many 
Voters,'  in  which  the  candidates  who  are  announced  in  the 
Journal  are  called  upon  to  'show  their  hands.'  Agreed,  here's 
mine. 

"I  go  for  all  sharing  the  privileges  of  the  government 
who  assist  in  bearing  its  burdens.  Consequently,  I  go  for 
admitting  all  whites  to  the  .right  of  suffrage  who  pay  taxes 


Practical  Legislator  63 

or  bear  arms  (by  no  means  excluding  females). 

"If  elected,  I  shall  consider  the  whole  people  of  Sangamon 
my  constituents,  as  well  those  that  oppose  as  those  that 
support  me. 

"While  acting  as  their  representative,  I  shall  be  governed 
by  their  will  on  all  subjects  upon  which  I  have  the  means 
of  knowing  what  their  will  is ;  and  upon  all  others  I  shall 
do  what  my  judgment  teaches  me  will  best  advance  their  in 
terests.  Whether  elected  or  not,  I  go  for  distributing  the 
proceeds  of  the  sales  of  the  public  lands  to  the  several  States, 
to  enable  our  State,  in  common  with  others,  to  dig  canals 
and  construct  railroads  without  borrowing  money  and  pay 
ing  the  interest  on  it. 

"If  alive  on  the  first  Monday  in  November,  I  shall  vote  for 
Hugh  L.  White  for  President.  Very  respectfully.  A.  Lin 
coln."  " 

In  commanding  contrast  to  his  first  circular,  this  fairly 
seems  to  crowd  out  every  dispensable  expression.  Contact 
with  the  pioneer  had  taught  him  to  court  the  power  of 
brevity,  so  this  announcement  is  more  like  a  creed  than  an 
address.  Homely  and  curt  in  character,  it  suited  the  time. 
It  was  the  best  way  to  the  heart  of  the  average  voter.  De 
mocracy  found  in  it  its  own  image.  Lincoln  leans  more  than 
a  little  to  the  popular.  He  advocates  the  distribution  of 
the  public  lands  money  for  the  building  of  canals  and  rail 
roads  without  borrowing  money,  and  openly  declares  his 
subserviency  in  being  governed  by  the  public  will  on  all  ques 
tions. 

Much  attention  has  been  dedicated  to  the  suggestion  advo 
cating  an  equality  of  suffrage.  This  expression  loses  con 
siderable  significance  considering  its  random  character. 
There  is  little  subsequent  evidence  of  his  belief  in  female  suf- 
11  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  7. 


64  Lincoln  the  Politician 

frage  as  a  wise  and  just  political  measure.  Still,  it  may  be 
fairly  assumed  that  the  untrammeled  mind  of  Lincoln,  with 
a  sure  faith  in  universal  suffrage,  followed  the  cherished  doc 
trine  to  the  end.  "All  such  questions,"  he  observed  one  day 
to  Herndon  as  they  were  discussing  temperance  in  his  office, 
"must  first  find  lodgment  with  the  most  enlightened  souls 
who  stamp  them  with  their  approval.  In  God's  own  time 
they  will  be  organized  into  law  and  thus  woven  into  the 
fabric  of  our  institutions."  12 

The  request  of  candidates  to  "show  their  hands"  was  of 
special  significance  at  this  time.  It  was  a  transitional  pe 
riod,  the  parting  of  ways  between  the  "whole  hog  Jackson- 
ite"  and  the  moderate  Democrat.  There  was  no  room  for 
lukewarm  adherents.  It  was  a  period  of  positive  alliance. 
Diplomacy  was  no  longer  a  factor.  The  center  of  gravity 
shifted  from  local  to  national  affairs.  Contests  became 
partisan  controversies  on  general  issues. 

The  campaign  of  1836  is  the  low  ebb  of  the  old  personal 
campaign,  where  every  man  fought  his  own  battle  on  his 
own  worth,  where  the  people  judged  every  candidate  on 
individual  merit.  This  is  the  last  time  seekers  of  office  are 
asked  "to  show  their  hand."  From  that  time,  political  affilia 
tion  and  not  personal  worth  began  to  be  the  marrow  of  a 
contest.  Partisan  devotion  submerged  personal  fealty.  The 
people  involuntarily  created  parties,  and  straightway  be 
came  slaves  of  their  own  handiwork,  selling  independence  for 
party  loyalty.  Partisanship  held  them  in  its  clutches,  and 
they  hardly  dared  to  loosen  its  embrace.  The  man  who 
ventured  to  exercise  his  judgment  was  charged  with  being 
a  weakling,  or  opened  himself  to  the  impious  accusation  in  a 
democratic  community  that  he  regarded  himself  greater  than 
his  party.  The  vision  of  the  average  worker  in  the  ranks 
"Herndon,  1,  158. 


Practical  Legislator  65 

became  near  sighted,  and  the  bias  of  his  judgment  knew  no 
limit.  Party  spirit  set  free  an  element  of  discord  among 
men  that  sundered  friendships,  wrought  enmities  between 
brothers,  and  banished  reason.  From  that  time  even  Lin 
coln  ceased  to  gather  any  considerable  support  from  his 
political  antagonists. 

Lincoln  was  wise  enough  to  note  the  tendency  of  these 
events.  Wasting  no  regrets  over  the  new  conditions,  he 
bound  himself  to  the  party  of  his  choice  without  equivoca 
tion.  Fairly  but  energetically  maintaining  the  sanctity  of 
the  Whig  principles,  he  became  a  fearless  and  feared  cham 
pion  of  its  doctrine.  He  displayed  keen  political  wisdom 
in  this  conduct.  Partisanship  seldom  rewards  the  laggard 
in  the  day  of  prosperity. 

That  Lincoln  entered  with  zeal  into  this  campaign  and 
indulged  in  the  fashion  of  the  day  in  the  issuance  of  handbills 
of  a  flaring  character,  the  following  is  significant  evidence : 

"TO  THE  PEOPLE  OF  SANGAMON  COUNTY— Fel 
low  Citizens :  I  have  this  moment  been  shown  a  handbill 
signed  'Truth  Teller'  in  which  my  name  is  done  up  in  large 
capitals.  No  one  can  doubt  the  object  of  this  attack  at 
this  late  hour.  An  effort  is  now  made  to  show  that  John  T. 
Stuart  and  myself  opposed  the  passage  of  the  bill  by  which 
the  Wiggins  loan  was  paid.  The  handbill  says — the  only 
vote  taken  on  the  bill  when  the  yeas  and  nays  were  taken 
was  upon  engrossing  the  bill  for  a  third  reading.  'That's  a 
lie !'  Let  the  reader  refer  to  pages  124,  125  and  126  of  the 
Journal  and  he  will  see  that  the  yeas  and  nays  were  taken 
twice  upon  the  bill  after  the  vote  referred  to  by  this  lying 
Truth  Teller,  and  he  will  also  see  that  my  course  toward 
the  bill  was  anything  but  unfriendly.  It  is  impossible  to 
make  a  lengthy  answer  at  this  late  hour.  All  I  have  to  say 
is  that  the  author  is  a  liar  and  a  scoundrel,  and  that  if  he 


66  Lincoln  the  Politician 

will  avow  the  authorship  to  me,  I  promise  to  give  his  pro 
boscis  a  good  wringing.  A.  Lincoln." 

One  of  the  sure  signs  of  the  spirit  of  increasing  partisan 
ship  was  the  virulence  and  bitterness  of  political  gatherings. 
Contests  between  leaders  became  frequent.  Debates  were 
had  on  the  prairie  that  equaled  in  earnestness  senatorial 
controversies.  There  was  all  the  high  tension  of  the  gladi 
atorial  combat  intensified  by  the  championship  of  something 
more  than  a  personal  issue — the  stake  of  party  principles. 
We  are  informed  that  on  one  occasion  a  Whig  candidate, 
at  the  top  of  his  voice,  branded  the  statement  of  a  Demo 
cratic  opponent,  as  false.  As  passion  ran  high,  a  duel 
seemed  a  likely  result.  Lincoln  followed  on  the  program. 
With  his  marvelous  fairness  he  discussed  the  subject  gently 
and  serenely  so  as  to  satisfy  friend  and  foe.  Judicial, 
though  earnest  in  advocacy,  he  fully  calmed  the  tumult.14 

It  was  doubtless  at  this  time  that  the  following  incident 
deeply  disturbed  his  calmness.  Something  had  displeased 
the  "wild  boys"  who  had  been  his  supporters  from  the  first. 
Perhaps  a  rumor  that  he  affected  strange  ways,  or  voted 
for  some  measure  not  to  their  liking,  caused  the  trouble. 
The  leader  at  once  gave  the  call  and  they  gathered.  Sel 
dom  revealing  himself,  he  then  gave  freedom  to  his  emotion. 
He  told  them  that  he  never  would  forget  those  who  had 
given  him  his  start,  the  men  who  stood  by  him,  who  had 
made  him  what  he  was  and  all  that  he  hoped  to  be.  He 
bade  them  if  they  still  cherished  unkindness,  if  they  still 
held  him  guilty,  to  tear  him  to  pieces  limb  by  limb.  The 
generous  hearts  of  the  frontiersmen,  overcome  by  this  un 
wonted  display  of  feeling,  lost  all  resentment,  and  the  leader 
regained  his  prestige  thus  rudely  shaken.15 

18  Hand  bill  in  possession  of  Dr.  Jayne,  Springfield,  111. 
14  Lamon,  188.  15  Oldroyd,  557. 


Practical  Legislator  67 

Early  in  the  campaign  Lincoln  spoke  at  Springfield.  Some 
of  the  Clary  Grove  boys  and  other  admirers  followed  him, 
confident  that  he  would  distinguish  himself  at  his  first  ap 
pearance.  They  were  not  slow  in  claiming  that  he  would 
make  a  better  stump  speech  than  any  one  at  the  county  seat. 
He  splendidly  defended  the  principles  of  his  party,  and  pro 
duced  a  profound  impression.  Among  his  auditors  was  a 
Mr.  Forquer,  who  had  the  finest  house  in  Springfield,  lately 
protected  by  the  only  lightning  rod  in  that  locality.  For 
merly  a  Whig,  his  apostasy  was  rewarded  with  a  lucrative 
office.  He  felt  the  sting  of  Lincoln's  strong  presentation  of 
the  principles  of  the  Whig  party.  The  recent  recruit  to  the 
Democratic  organization  replied  by  a  speech  able  and  appar 
ently  fair,  still  skillfully  mingled  with  sarcasm.  Scorn  and 
satire  were  freeely  used,  so  that  the  anxiety  of  the  friends 
of  Lincoln  was  awakened.  Speed  relates  that  his  reply  to 
Forquer  was  characterized  by  great  dignity  and  force ;  that 
he  would  never  forget  the  conclusion  of  that  speech.  "Mr. 
Forquer  commenced  his  speech,"  said  Lincoln,  "by  announc 
ing  that  the  young  man  would  have  to  be  taken  down.  It 
is  for  you,  fellow  citizens,  not  for  me  to  say  whether  I  am 
up  or  down.  The  gentleman  has  seen  fit  to  allude  to  my 
being  a  young  man ;  but  he  forgets  that  I  am  older  in  years 
than  I  am  in  tricks  and  trades  of  politicians.  I  desire  to 
live,  and  I  desire  place  and  distinction;  but  I  would  rather 
die  now  than,  like  the  gentleman,  live  to  see  the  day  that  I 
would  change  my  politics  for  an  office  worth  three  thousand 
dollars  a  year,  and  then  feel  compelled  to  erect  a  lightning 
rod  to  protect  a  guilty  conscience  from  an  offended  God."  16 
Lincoln  showed  supreme  skill  in  striking  a  chord  in  the 
pioneer  heart.  He  knew  the  thoughts  of  the  plain  people, 
knew  that  they  hated  every  pretension  of  manner.  For  many 
"Herndon,  1,  171-2. 


68  Lincoln  the  Politician 

years  whenever  Forquer  rose  to  speak  he  was  pointed  at  as 
the  man  who  put  a  lightning  rod  on  his  house  to  ward  off  the 
vengeance  of  the  Supreme  Power.17  Lincoln  was  not  averse 
to  appeal  to  other  sentiments  of  the  people.  At  a  gathering 
of  farmers  in  joint  debate  with  his  rival,  he  said:  "I  am 
too  poor  to  own  a  carriage,  but  my  friend  has  generously 
invited  me  to  ride  with  him.  I  want  you  to  vote  for  me  if 
you  will;  but  if  not  then  vote  for  my  opponent,  for  he  is 
a  fine  man."  18 

In  this  campaign,  Lincoln  rose  to  eminence  as  a  political 
speaker.  From  that  time  he  was  one  of  the  stalwart  Whigs 
selected  by  common  consent  for  leadership  in  the  contests 
with  their  strong  disciplined  and  victorious  opponents.  Lin 
coln's  services  were  given  popular  endorsement.  He  led  all 
the  rest  of  his  able  associates.19 

In  the  Legislature  of  1836  Lincoln  played  the  part  of  a 
politician.  The  external  side  of  his  career  is  described  by 
Lamon,  who  declares  that  "he  was  the  smartest  parlia 
mentarian  and  the  cunningest  'log  roller.'  "  20 

The  State  was  now  aglow  with  enthusiasm  over  the  pros 
pects  of  the  policy  of  internal  improvements.  A  few  days 
before  the  Legislature  assembled,  a  mass  convention  in  San- 
gamon  County  instructed  their  members  to  vote  for  the 
system  of  internal  improvements.21  This  was  one  of  the 
many  manifestations  of  the  public  sentiment. 

Lincoln  followed  the  common  political  ambition  of  his 
time.  He  became  an  aggressive  champion  of  the  public  im 
provement  policy.  He  told  his  friend  Speed,  in  confidence, 
that  he  aimed  at  the  great  distinction  of  being  called  the 
"De  Witt  Clinton  of  Illinois."  With  many  other  public  men 
of  that  day  he  ventured  the  hope  of  rivalling  the  fame  of 

^Herndon,  1,  172.  19Herndon,  1,  163.      21  Ibid.,  196. 

"Tarbell,  1,  130.  » Lamon,  195. 


Practical  Legislator  69 

the  builder  of  the  Erie  Canal.22  A  leading  member  of  the 
finance  committee,  he  was  foremost  in  urging  the  popular 
measures  by  which  everybody  was  to  be  enriched  by  some 
stroke  of  statesmanship,  some  mysterious  manipulation  in 
finance.  The  state  loans  were  to  construct  railroads,  the 
railroads  were  to  build  cities;  the  cities  in  turn  were  to 
create  a  demand  for  farms;  capital  rushing  for  investment 
was  to  follow,  and  lands  were  steadily  to  rise  in  value.  The 
tax  on  real  estate  was  to  go  into  a  sinking  fund,  and  thus 
shuffle  off  local  assessment.  In  this  fine  way  taxation  was 
to  be  banished.23  With  untiring  step  many  followed  the 
vision.  Politics  as  well  as  fancy  every  now  and  then  has  its 
lamp  of  Aladdin. 

No  one  voted  more  persistently  for  local  and  State  im 
provements,  relief  acts  and  the  incorporation  of  organiza 
tions,  than  Abraham  Lincoln.  This  was  not  done  in  dark 
ness.  The  solemn  protest  of  some  sane  members  was  put 
forth  against  the  prevailing  folly  that  held  its  repeated 
jubilations  in  the  Legislature.  They  commented  on  the 
madness  of  the  immense  schemes,  on  the  multitude  of  officers 
with  ample  salaries.  They  dimly  prophesied  shadow  and 
gloom  to  the  hopes  of  the  enamored  majority.24  Another 
resolution  advising  consultation  with  the  people  before  bor 
rowing  money  for  all  the  contemplated  enterprises  received 
only  nine  votes.  Lincoln  was  not  among  that  eminent  mi 
nority.25 

Governor  Ford  makes  the  following  stinging  comment  on 
those  who  put  into  operation  the  internal  improvement  pol 
icy:  They  have  been  excused  upon  the  ground  that  they 
were  instructed  to  vote  as  they  did,  and  that  they  had  every 
right  to  believe  that  they  were  truly  reflecting  the  will  of  their 

"  Benton,  1,  22.    Lamon,  p.  195.        u  House  Journal  of  1836-37,  680. 
23  Lamon,  197.  M  Ibid.,  367. 


70  Lincoln  the  Politician 

constituents.  But  members  ought  to  resign  such  small  offices, 
to  sacrifice  a  petty  ambition,  rather  than  become  the  willing 
tools  of  a  deluded  people,  to  bring  so  much  calamity  upon 
the  country.26 

The  chief  task  of  Lincoln  and  the  other  members  of  the 
Sangamon  delegation  in  the  tenth  biennial  session  of  the 
Legislature  was  to  secure  the  removal  of  the  capital  from 
Vandalia  to  Springfield.  This  called  forth  his  utmost  inge 
nuity.  Many  rivals  sought  the  prize.  It  was  no  mean 
problem  to  grasp  victory  from  a  crowd  of  contending  com 
munities.  Lincoln  set  himself  resolutely  to  the  practical 
problem.  It  demanded  patience,  skill  and  every  art  of  the 
legislator.  Twice  its  enemies  laid  the  Springfield  bill  on 
the  table.  He  gathered  his  despairing  associates  for  counsel 
in  the  hour  of  seeming  defeat.  The  bill  was  squeezed 
through  at  the  last  moment. 

Governor  Ford  and  other  Democrats  seriously  believed, 
and  long  repeated  the  charge,  that  the  "Long  Nine,"  as  the 
Sangamon  delegation  was  called,  "log  rolled  the  removal" 
through  the  Legislature.  Nicolay  and  Hay,  however,  con 
tend  that  the  removal  was  due  to  the  adroit  management  of 
Mr.  Lincoln — first  in  inducing  all  the  rival  claimants  to  unite 
in  a  vote  to  move  the  capital  from  Vandalia,  and  then  carry 
ing  a  direct  vote  for  Springfield  through  the  joint  conven 
tion  by  assistance  of  the  Southern  counties.  They  cite  as 
evidence  of  this  personal  influence  of  Lincoln  the  statement 
of  a  legislator:  "He  made  Webb  and  me  vote  for  the  re 
moval,  though  we  belonged  to  the  southern  part  of  the  state. 
We  defended  our  vote  before  our  constituents  by  saying 
that  necessity  would  ultimately  force  the  seat  of  government 
to  a  central  position.  But  in  reality  we  gave  the  vote  to 
Lincoln  because  we  liked  him,  because  we  wanted  to  oblige 
26  Ford,  196. 


Practical  Legislator  71 

our  friend,  and  because  we  recognized  him  as  our  leader."  2T 
This  statement  is  not  sufficient  to  meet  the  contention  that 
the  removal  was  cunningly  attained.  The  personal  power 
of  Lincoln  with  some  legislators  may  have  been  an  availing 
factor.  Still  the  majority  of  the  lawmakers  were  men 
moved  mainly  by  material  considerations.  It  is  not  reason 
able  to  assume  that  in  voting  on  a  vital  and  important 
proposition  they  would  not  highly  consider  its  effect  on  their 
own  measures ;  that  they  would  enable  the  Sangamon  delega- 
'tion  to  return  triumphantly  to  their  constituents  without 
some  understanding  of  reciprocity.  That  Lincoln  reluc 
tantly  or  otherwise  made  some  peculiar  alliances  or  en 
gaged  in  some  questionable  strategy  may  be  reasonably 
deduced  from  the  admission :  "I  also  tacked  a  provision  onto 
a  fellow's  bill,  to  authorize  the  relocation  of  the  road  from 
Salem  down  to  your  town,  but  I  am  not  certain  whether  or 
not  the  bill  passed.  Neither  do  I  suppose  I  can  ascertain 
before  the  law  will  be  published — if  it  is  a  law."28 

Still  there  is  stirring  evidence  that  Lincoln  would  not 
barter  his  principles  even  for  the  success  of  his  most  cher 
ished  purpose  in  that  session.  An  effort  was  made  to  unite 
the  friends  of  Springfield  with  those  of  a  measure  Lincoln 
refused  to  sanction.  Every  argument  was  used  to  influence 
Mr.  Lincoln  to  yield  his  objections,  and  thus  secure  the 
removal  of  the  capital  to  his  own  city,  but  without  effect. 
Finally  after  midnight,  when  the  candles  were  burning  low 
in  the  room,  he  rose  amid  the  silence  and  solemnity  which 
prevailed,  and  made  an  eloquent  and  powerful  speech,  say 
ing  in  conclusion:  "You  may  burn  my  body  to  ashes,  and 
scatter  them  to  the  winds  of  heaven ;  you  may  drag  my  soul 
down  to  the  regions  of  darkness  and  despair  to  be  tormented 
forever;  but  you  will  never  get  me  to  support  a  measure 

27  Nicolay  &  Hay,  138-139.  28  Tarbell,  1,  137, 


7£  Lincoln  the  Politician 

which  I  believe  to  be  wrong,  although  by  doing  so  I  may 
accomplish  that  which  I  believe  to  be  right."  * 

In  matters  involving  method  and  detail,  he  used  every  art 
of  the  politician.  Still  when  principle  was  at  stake,  he 
would  not  bow  to  expediency.  With  rare  precision,  he 
keenly  followed  the  hazy  border  land  between  principle  and 
policy.  In  securing  results,  he  surpassed  common  politi 
cians;  in  fealty  to  integrity  he  rivalled  the  patriot. 

The  year  1837  was  a  crucial  period  in  many  respects  for 
Lincoln.  He  had  steadily  moved  forward  until  he  became 
the  leader  of  New  Salem.  He  had  shown  superior  skill 
as  a  local  politician.  But  his  future  as  lawyer  and  politi 
cian  in  New  Salem  was  already  bounded.  With  his  success 
as  a  legislator  and  the  applause  of  larger  communities,  his 
longing  for  fame  and  power  grew  stronger.  With  no  keen 
regret,  he  sundered  the  ties  that  bound  him  to  Clary  Grove 
where  his  word  was  law,  to  enter  upon  a  life  of  more  varied 
and  extensive  character.  His  entrance  into  Springfield  was 
as  humble  as  that  into  New  Salem.  Speed  relates  that  Lin 
coln  came  into  his  store,  set  his  saddle  bags  on  the  counter, 
and  inquired  what  a  single  bedstead  would  cost.  Being  told 
that  the  amount  complete  was  seventeen  dollars,  Lincoln 
said  that  it  was  cheap  enough,  but  cheap  as  it  was,  he  did 
not  have  the  money  to  pay,  but  if  he  would  be  trusted 
until  Christmas,  and  his  experiment  there  as  a  lawyer  was 
a  success,  he  would  pay  then,  if  he  failed  he  would  probably 
never  pay  at  all.  The  tone  of  his  voice  was  so  full  of  pathos 
that  Speed  felt  for  him,  and  he  thought  that  he  never  saw 
so  gloomy  and  melancholy  a  face  in  his  life,  and  he  then 
told  Lincoln  that  he  had  a  very  large  room  and  a  very  large 
double  bed  in  it,  which  he  was  welcome  to  share  with  him. 
Without  saying  a  word  Lincoln  took  his  saddle  bags  on 
*  Tarbell,  1,  138-9. 


Practical  Legislator  73 

his  arm,  went  upstairs,  set  them  down  on  the  floor,  came 
down  again,  and  with  a  face  beaming  with  pleasure  and 
smiles,  exclaimed,  "Well,  Speed,  I'm  moved."  29 

In  the  special  session  of  1837,  the  accusation  that  the 
removal  of  the  capital  was  born  of  "bargain  and  corrup 
tion,"  challenged  the  integrity  of  the  Sangamon  delegation. 
A  prominent  Democrat,  General  Ewing,  thus  taunted  them: 
"The  arrogance  of  Springfield,  its  presumption  in  claiming 
the  seat  of  government  is  not  to  be  endured;  the  law  has 
been  passed  by  chicanery  and  trickery ;  the  Springfield  dele 
gation  has  sold  out  to  the  internal  improvement  men,  and 
has  promised  its  support  to  every  measure  that  would  gain 
a  vote  to  the  law  removing  the  seat  of  government.30  That 
Lincoln  hurried  to  the  defence  of  the  onslaught  of  an  emi 
nent  opponent,  is  another  indication  that  he  was  rapidly 
becoming  chief  of  his  fellows.  He  here  displayed  the  same 
kind  of  talent  that  won  him  applause  from  audiences  on 
the  prairie.31  General  Linder  states  that  then,  for  the  first 
time,  he  began  to  conceive  a  very  high  opinion  of  the  talents 
and  personal  courage  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  The  interven 
tion  of  friends  alone  averted  a  duel  between  Lincoln  and 
Ewing.82 

During  this  session,  a  resolution  was  introduced  by  Mr. 
Linder  for  a  legislative  inquiry  into  the  affairs  of  the  State 
Bank,  generally  known  to  be  in  a  hazardous  condition.  The 
introducer  ventured  to  support  his  resolution  with  a  tone 
of  superiority  that  invited  chastisement.  Again  Lincoln 
bore  the  brunt  of  the  defence,  railing  at  Mr.  Linder  about  his 
pretensions,  saying  that  in  one  faculty  at  least,  there  could 
be  no  dispute  of  the  gentleman's  superiority^  over  him  and 
most  other  men,  and  that  was,  the  faculty  of  so  entangling 

29  Herndon,  1,  176.  31  Lamon,  201. 

8CTarbell,  1,  139.  "Tarbell,  1,  139. 


74  Lincoln  the  Politician 

a  subject  that  neither  himself,  nor  any  other  man,  could 
find  head  or  tail  to  it.33 

In  speaking  of  the  resolution  itself,  Lincoln  indulged  in 
these  typical  expressions:  It  is  an  old  maxim  and  a  very 
sound  one,  that  he  who  dances  should  always  pay  the  fiddler. 
I  am  decidedly  opposed  to  the  people's  money  being  used 
to  pay  the  fiddler.  These  capitalists  generally  act  harmoni 
ously  and  in  concert  to  fleece  the  people ;  and  now  that  they 
have  got  into  a  quarrel  with  themselves,  we  are  called  upon 
to  appropriate  the  people's  money  to  settle  the  quarrel.34 
The  people  know  their  rights  and  they  are  never  slow  to 
assert  and  maintain  them  when  they  are  invaded.  I  make 
the  assertion  boldly,  and  without  fear  of  contradiction,  that 
no  man  who  does  not  hold  an  office,  or  does  not  aspire  to 
one,  has  ever  found  any  fault  with  the  bank.  No,  sir,  it  is 
the  politician  who  is  first  to  sound  the  alarm  (which  by 
the  way,  is  a  false  one.)  It  is  he  who  by  these  unholy 
means,  is  endeavoring  to  blow  up  a  storm  that  he  made  ride 
upon  and  direct.  Mr.  Chairman,  this  work  is  exclusively 
the  work  of  politicians — a  set  of  men  who  have  interests  aside 
from  the  interests  of  the  people,  and  who,  to  say  the  most 
of  them,  are,  taken  as  a  mass,  at  least  one  step  removed 
from  honest  men.  I  say  this  with  the  greater  freedom,  be 
cause,  being  a  politician  myself,  none  can  regard  it  as  per 
sonal.35 

The  speech  was  published  in  the  Sangamon  Journal  with 
the  editorial  comment  that  Lincoln's  remarks  on  Linder's 
bank  resolution  were  quite  to  the  point ;  that  he  carried  the 
true  Kentucky  rifle,  and  when  he  fired  he  seldom  failed  send 
ing  the  shot  home.36 

Lincoln's  bold  words  about  the  politician,  modified  by  his 

"Tarbell,  1,  140,  141.  33  Ibid.,  142. 

"Ibid.,  141.  39Ibid, 


Practical  Legislator  75 

quaint  admission,  allow  us  a  glimpse  of  the  inner  man.  It 
took  no  mean  courage  to  make  so  unpalatable  an  assertion. 
Still  tempering  his  speech  with  his  rare  kind  of  diplomacy, 
he  did  not  suffer  in  the  estimation  of  his  associates,  those 
whose  esteem  he  valued. 


CHAPTER  V 

PROTESTER    AND    PATRIOT 

year  1837  is  the  culmination  of  the  first  period  of 
abolitionism  in  Illinois.  Until  then,  abolitionism  was  a 
hated  eastern  conception.  Despite  opposition,  and  somewhat 
feeding  on  it,  it  slowly  filtered  its  way  through  an  almost 
impervious  public  sentiment.  A  small  band  encountered 
with  heroism,  the  continuous  martyrdom  that  waits  on  the 
protagonist.  Few  in  numbers,  zealous  in  their  gospel,  su 
perbly  confident  in  the  rectitude  of  their  counsel  they 
aroused  the  spirit  of  retaliation.  Their  excessive  zeal  tran 
scended  all  other  obligations,  rendering  them  indifferent, 
if  not  hostile,  to  the  constitutional  compact.  They  stimu 
lated  and  encouraged  to  life  a  corresponding  bitterness 
among  the  multitude. 

It  was  in  those  days  a  mortal  offence  to  call  a  man  an 
abolitionist.  The  popular  mind  scarcely  distinguished  be 
tween  men  who  stole  horses  and  men  who  freed  negroes. 
They  regarded  anti-slavery  men  as  robbers,  disturbers  of 
the  peace,  the  instigators  of  arson,  and  enemies  to  the  Union 
which  gave  us  as  a  people  liberty  and  strength.  "In  testi 
mony  of  these  sentiments,  Illinois  enacted  a  'black  code'  of 
most  preposterous  and  cruel  severity, — a  code  that  would 
have  been  a  disgrace  to  a  slave  state,  and  was  simply  an 
infamy  in  a  free  one.  It  borrowed  the  provisions  of  the 
most  revolting  laws  known  among  men,  for  exiling,  selling, 
beating,  bedeviling,  and  torturing  negroes,  whether  bond  or 

76 


Protester  and  Patriot  77 

free."  * 

That  the  opposition  of  slavery  was  bothering  the  people 
of  Sangamon  County,  is  evident  from  the  following  resolu 
tion  adopted  at  Springfield  in  1837  at  a  public  meeting,  over 
which  Judge  Brown  presided : 

"Resolved  that  in  the  opinion  of  this  meeting  the  doc 
trine  of  the  immediate  emancipation  of  the  slaves  of  this 
country  (although  promulgated  by  those  who  profess  to  be 
Christians)  is  at  variance  with  Christianity,  and  its  tendency 
is  to  breed  contention,  broil  and  mobs ;  and  the  leaders  of 
those  calling  themselves  Abolitionists  are  designing  ambitious 
men  and  dangerous  members  of  society  and  should  be 
shunned  by  all  good  citizens."  2 

Illinois  would  scarcely  brook  unchained  utterance  on  the 
darkest  question  of  all  the  ages, — the  "right  of  one  man  to 
eat  the  bread  which  another  earned."  A  kind  of  stifling 
ostracism  awaited  the  lowly  or  the  towering  disciple  who 
spoke  in  the  language  of  Jefferson,  of  the  fear  awakening 
problem.  Every  generation  has  its  remorseless  method  of 
crucifying  its  heroes  of  speech  and  deed.  Business  and 
political  interests,  social  influences  and  religious  affiliations 
concerted  in  the  crushing  of  abolitionism.  Success  might 
have  crowned  their  effort  had  prudence  been  their  com 
panion,  but  they  mobbed,  maltreated,  and  even  murdered  the 
champions  of  the  new  movement.  Had  madness  confounded 
them,  they  could  not  have  acted  more  unwisely.  This,  more 
than  all  the  agitation  of  abolition  leaders,  quickened  the 
moral  vitality  of  the  people.  There  were  many  white  men 
who  cared  little  for  the  slave,  but  much  for  the  gospel  of 
free  speech  as  old  as  the  Anglo-Saxon  race.  This  fatal 
policy  of  brute  force  finally  dictated  the  doom  of  a  power 
that  long  mocked  all  opposition,  that  dreamed  of  an  im- 
*Lamon,  206.  'History  of  Sangamon  County,  251. 


78  Lincoln  the  Politician 

perial  government  grander  than  the  vision  which  "Stout 
Cortez"  beheld  when  he  first  stared  at  the  Pacific,  "silent 
on  a  peak  in  Darien." 

The  motives  that  prompted  public  sentiment  in  Illinois  to 
throttle  discussion  on  the  slave  question,  almost  baffle  under 
standing.  The  Lovejoys  attacked  no  vested  interest  in  the 
State,  menaced  no  substantial  rights  of  person  or  property. 
While  the  Southern  States  busied  themselves  with  the  doc 
trine  that  it  was  the  privilege  of  each  State  to  demean  itself 
as  it  wished,  subject  only  to  the  Constitution,  as  it  inter 
preted  that  instrument,  there  was  small  occasion  for  a  North 
ern  commonwealth  to  curb  its  own  citizens,  to  sacrifice 
ancient  and  cherished  rights  for  the  pleasure  of  an  exacting 
foreign  institution. 

The  anti-slavery  forces  with  keenness  of  vision  saw  the 
weak  point  of  the  enemy's  attack,  so  they  ranged  themselves 
round  the  banner,  proclaiming  the  doctrine  of  free  speech 
and  the  sacredness  of  an  unshackled  press.  Nothing  more 
inherently  reveals  the  weakness  of  the  advocates  of  slavery, 
than  their  morbid  fear  of  free  and  frank  inquiry  into  its 
policy  and  wisdom.  In  the  face  of  an  institution  demanding 
mob  power,  and  the  sacrifice  of  priceless  principles,  the 
Abolitionists  performed  a  wholesome  public  service  in  con 
tending  that  then  more  than  ever  liberty  of  discussion  should 
be  protected,  maintained  and  hallowed. 

Suddenly,  in  the  same  year  up  starts  Lincoln  the  states 
man,  Lincoln  the  politician  sinks.  He  possessed  the  rare 
gift  of  concealing  his  most  cherished  opinions  until  the  time 
was  ripe  for  expression.  He  was  aware  of  the  folly  of  mouth 
ing  truths  when  no  good  could  come  therefrom.  In  this, 
he  was  a  politician.  Still  when  the  occasion  called  for  an 
act  of  fortitude,  when  the  solemnity  of  the  hour  summoned 
heroic  utterance,  as  from  "heights  afar,"  the  sound  of  his 


Protester  and  Patriot  79 

voice  was  heard  and  the  thrill  of  his  words  awakened.  In 
this,  he  was  a  supreme  statesman. 

-  Strange  medley  of  the  ideal  and  the  practical, — at  times 
he  appeared  the  very  woof  of  the  visionary,  and  then  stood 
forth  as  a  petty  politician.  He  was  a  mystery  and  a  won 
der  to  his  contemporaries.  They  never  beheld  such  a  man ; 
they  had  no  standard  by  which  to  measure  him.  First,  amaz 
ing  some  by  the  minuteness  of  his  strategy,  he  would  then 
startle  others  by  a  bold  proclamation  of  immortal  truth. 
There  was  something  elusive  in  the  manifoldness  of  his  na 
ture.  The  world  with  childlike  simplicity  looks  for  uniform 
ity  of  action,  for  consistency.  So  it  was  that  in  later  years 
time-servers  called  Lincoln  the  apostle  of  radicalism,  and 
radicals  named  him  the  slave  of  conservatism. 

The  legislature  instead  of  branding  the  black  crime  of 
the  murder  of  Lovejoy  in  1837,  hastened  to  pass  resolutions 
of  sympathy  with  slavery..  No  external  inducement  guided 
Lincoln  to  fly  in  the  face  of  the  sentiment  of  the  Legislature, 
the  State  and  Nation  in  regard  to  Abolitionism.  His  conduct 
mystifies  unless  the  abiding  impress  of  the  incident  at  New 
Orleans  is  fully  measured.  It  was  no  idle  vaunt  that  stirred 
him  to  the  declaration  that  if  he  ever  had  the  chance  he 
would  strike  a  blow  for  the  enslaved.  The  testing  time  was 
at  hand.  His  oath  was  "registered  in  Heaven."  It  was 
necessary  to  join  the  majority  in  their  defence  of  slavery,  or 
strike  a  lonely  path  in  behalf  of  the  enslaved.  His  soul  faced 
that  crisis.  No  longer  helpless,  he  was  widely  known,  and 
was  distinguished  for  his  services  as  a  political  leader.  High 
in  position,  his  act  and  word  carrying  weight,  he  proclaimed 
his  protest.  The  chance  being  at  hand,  he  struck  slavery  a 
stinging  blow.  The  silence  of  nearly  a  decade  was  broken 
in  words  that  shall  echo  for  evermore.  Only  one  other  rep 
resentative,  Dan  Stone,  of  Sangamon  County,  dared  to  sign 


80  Lmcoki  the  Politician 

the  following  signal  dissent  that  will  save  him  from  an  obliv 
ion  that  has  already  enshrouded  those  who  voted  for  the  suc 
cessful  resolutions: 

"They  believe  that  the  institution  of  slavery  is  founded 
on  both  injustice  and  bad  policy,  but  that  the  promulgation 
of  abolition  doctrines  tends  rather  to  increase  than  abate  the 
evils. 

"They  believe  that  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  has 
no  power  under  the  Constitution  to  interfere  with  the  insti 
tution  of  slavery  in  the  different  States. 

"They  believe  that  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  has 
the  power,  under  the  Constitution,  to  abolish  slavery  in  the 
District  of  Columbia,  but  that  the  power  ought  not  to  be 
exercised,  unless  at  the  request  of  the  people  of  the  District. 

"The  difference  between  these  opinions  and  those  contained 
in  the  said  resolutions  is  their  reason  for  entering  this  pro 
test. 

"Dan  Stone, 
"A.  Lincoln. 
"Representatives  of  the  County  of  Sangamon."  3 

The  resolutions  that  passed  the  General  Assembly  were 
still  rather  conservative  for  the  time  and  place.  The  protest 
of  Lincoln  is  therefore  the  more  significant,  as  indicating 
its  origin  from  some  deep  mental  or  moral  sentiment. 
Every  letter  in  the  protest  is  weighed.  No  product  of 
Lincoln  is  more  native  to  his  genius.  It  is  as  re 
strained  as  a  judicial  decision.  Avoiding  unneeded  antag 
onism,  it  is  framed  with  admirable  diplomacy.  Radical  in 
thought,  still  so  moderate  in  expression,  it  saved  his  power 
for  further  good,  not  placing  him  beyond  fellowship  with 
•Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  15. 


Protester  and  Patriot  81 

his  associates.  Yet  with  all  its  subdued  character,  with 
infinite  wisdom  it  made  the  assault  at  the  weakest  point, 
declaring  that  slavery  was  founded,  not  only  on  injustice,  but 
bad  policy.  In  the  last  phrase  lurked  the  sting  that  was 
to  awaken  the  self-interest  of  the  North,  the  same  kind  of 
selfishness  that  solidified  the  South  in  defending  the  institu 
tion.  Lincoln  was  among  the  first  to  grasp  and  lay  stress 
on  the  warp  of  the  issue.  He  once  declared  that  honest 
statesmanship  was  the  employment  of  individual  meanness 
for  the  public  good.  When  self-interest  became  enlisted  with 
conscience  against  the  evil,  its  days  were  numbered.  While 
Abolitionism  was  noisily  tugging  at  one  of  the  pillars  that 
supported  human  bondage,  Lincoln  serenely  forged  an  argu 
ment  linking  its  moral  and  industrial  weakness,  an  argu 
ment  that  finally  shook  its  very  foundation,  until  the  pecu 
liar  institution  that  dominated  the  destiny  of  the  nation  for 
more  than  half  a  century  tumbled  to  destruction.  While 
other  men  were  forced  to  change  their  opinions  through  the 
malignancy  of  slavery  to  keep  abreast  of  public  sentiment, 
Lincoln  remained  steadfast  in  his  opinions  and  his  policy. 
At  the  outset,  he  foresaw  that  no  institution  could  last  long 
that  rested  on  injustice  and  bad  policy.  Only  a  change  of 
external  conditions  separated  the  man  who  entered  a  solemn 
protest  against  the  iniquity  of  slavery  in  a  hostile  com 
munity  and  the  leader  who  gave  life  to  the  momentous  act 
of  the  nineteenth  century. 

The  period  preceding  the  murder  of  Lovejoy  was  an  era 
of  unrest.  The  mob  spirit  ranged  over  the  land.  Thus  in 
commenting  upon  the  murder  of  the  mulatto  Mclntosh,  Love- 
joy  says:  "In  Charlestown  it  burns  a  Convent  over  the  head 
of  defenseless  women;  in  Baltimore  it  desecrates  the  Sab 
bath,  and  works  all  that  day  in  demolishing  a  private  citi 
zen's  house ;  in  Vicksburg  it  hangs  up  gamblers,  three  or  four 


82  Lincoln  the  Politician 

in  a  row;  and  in  St.  Louis  it  forces  a  man — a  hardened 
wretch  certainly,  and  one  that  deserves  to  die,  but  not  thus 
to  die — it  forces  him  from  beneath  the  aegis  of  our  constitu 
tion  and  laws,  hurries  him  to  the  stake  and  burns  him  alive  !"* 

Without  doubt,  the  murder  of  Lovejoy  and  similar  inci 
dents  drew  the  mind  of  Lincoln  to  the  discussion  of  the  sub 
ject  of  the  preservation  of  our  institutions.  For  Herndon 
has  left  valuable  testimony  as  to  the  influence  of  like  events 
on  his  own  opinions.  The  cruel  and  uncalled-for  murder 
aroused  anti-slavery  sentiments,  penetrating  the  college  at 
Jacksonville  where  he  was  attending,  and  both  faculty  and 
students  were  unrestrained  in  their  denunciation.  Herndon's 
father,  believing  that  the  college  was  too  strongly  permeated 
with  the  virus  of  Abolitionism,  forced  him  to  withdraw  from 
the  institution.  But  Herndon  declares  that  it  was  too  late; 
that  the  murder  of  Lovejoy  filled  him  with  more  desperation 
than  the  slave  scene  in  New  Orleans  did  Lincoln.  For  while 
the  latter  believed  in  non-interference  with  slavery,  as  long 
as  the  Constitution  authorized  its  existence,  Herndon,  al 
though  acting  nominally  with  the  Whig  party  up  to  1853, 
struck  out  for  Abolitionism  pure  and  simple.4 

In  the  fall  of  1837,  Lincoln  addressed  the  Young  Men's 
Lyceum  at  Springfield,  Illinois,  in  a  formal  discourse  bearing 
traces  of  considerable  preparation.  The  style  is  fulsome  and 
fanciful,  and  unlike  his  own  crisp  utterance  of  previous  or 
subsequent  periods.  For  a  time  he  wandered  from  his  natu 
ral  self  and  followed  the  glitter  of  what  he  doubtless  deemed 
a  more  cultivated  form  of  expression.  Thus  it  begins :  "In 
the  great  journal  of  things  happening  under  the  sun,  we,  the 
American  people,  find  our  account  running  under  date  of  the 
nineteenth  century  of  the  Christian  era.  We  find  ourselves 
*Lovejoy,  172.  *  Herndon,  1,  178-9. 


Protester  and  Patriot  83 

in  the  peaceful  possession  of  the  fairest  portion  of  the  earth 
as  regards  extent  of  territory,  fertility  of  soil  and  salubrity 
of  climate.  We  find  ourselves  under  the  government  of  a 
system  of  political  institutions  conducing  more  essentially 
to  the  ends  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  than  any  of  which 
the  history  of  former  times  tells  us."  5 

It  is  especially  important  to  take  note  of  Lincoln's  atti 
tude  of  the  prevailing  mob  spirit.  His  treatment  of  that 
theme,  his  mode  and  manner  and  thought,  is  so  like  that  of 
the  editor  of  the  Alton  Observer,  that  it  is  reasonable  to 
assume  that  there  was  a  common  origin  to  the  common  senti 
ment.  The  same  scenes  and  events  that  stirred  the  soul  of 
Lovejoy  aroused  that  of  Lincoln.  His  direct  onslaught  on 
the  mob  spirit  being  largely  connected  with  the  slave  issue, 
was  an  indirect  attack  on  slavery.  In  this,  Lincoln  and  the 
Abolitionists  stood  on  the  same  ground.  He  extravagantly 
denounced  the  malefaction  of  the  mobs,  saying  that  they 
pervaded  the  country  from  New  England  to  Louisiana ;  and 
alike  sprang  up  among  the  pleasure-hunting  masters  of 
Southern  slaves,  and  the  order-loving  citizens  of  the  land  of 
steady  habits,  that  this  process  of  hanging  went  on  from 
gamblers  to  negroes,  from  negroes  to  white  citizens,  and  from 
these  to  strangers,  till  dead  men  were  seen  literally  dangling 
from  the  boughs  of  trees  upon  every  roadside.  He  further 
insisted  that  by  the  operation  of  this  mobocratic  spirit,  the 
strongest  bulwark  of  any  government  might  effectually  be 
broken  down  and  destroyed — the  attachment  of  the  people. 
He  contended  that  whenever  the  vicious  portion  of  popula 
tion  should  be  permitted  to  burn  churches,  ravage  provision 
stores,  throw  printing  presses  into  rivers,  shoot  editors,  and 
hang  and  burn  obnoxious  persons  with  impunity,  this  gov 
ernment  could  not  last.6 

•Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  9.  «  Ibid.,  10-11. 


84  Lincoln  the  Politician 

Under  the  display  of  such  extravagant  expression  there  is 
still  patriotic  apprehensiveness  of  danger  to  the  national 
existence.  He  fought  out  the  solution  of  the  problem  un 
aided  until  the  way  seemed  clear  and  plain.  To  him  the 
remedy  was  simple — obedience  to  the  law  of  the  land. 

"Let  reverence  for  the  law  be  breathed  by  every  Ameri 
can  mother  to  the  lisping  babe  that  prattles  on  her  lap ;  let 
it  be  taught  in  schools,  in  seminaries  and  in  colleges;  let  it 
be  written  in  primers,  spelling  books,  and  in  almanacs ;  let  it 
be  preached  from  the  pulpit,  proclaimed  in  legislative  halls, 
and  enforced  in  courts  of  justice.  And,  in  short,  let  it 
become  the  political  religion  of  the  nation,  and  let  the  old 
and  the  young,  the  rich  and  the  poor,  the  grave  and  the 
gay  of  all  sexes  and  tongues  and  colors  and  conditions,  sacri 
fice  unceasingly  upon  its  altars.  .  .  . 

"When  I  so  pressingly  urge  a  strict  observance  of  all  the 
laws,  let  me  not  be  understood  as  saying  there  are  no  bad 
laws,  or  that  grievances  may  not  arise  for  the  redress  of 
which  no  legal  provisions  have  been  made.  I  mean  to  say 
no  such  thing.  But  I  do  mean  to  say  that  although  bad 
laws  if  they  exist,  should  be  repealed  as  soon  as  possible, 
still,  while  they  continue  in  force,  for  the  sake  of  example 
they  should  be  religiously  observed.  So  also  in  unprovided 
cases.  If  such  arises,  let  proper  legal  provision  be  made  for 
them  with  the  least  possible  delay,  but  till  then,  if  not  too 
intolerable,  be  borne  with."  7 

His  remedy  bespeaking  reverence  for  the  laws,  would  de 
stroy  the  rampant  spirit  in  the  slavery  movement  and  in 
abolitionism,  so  that  neither  would  violate  the  law  of  the 
land,  and  so  that  the  controversy  might  be  conducted  with 
out  intruding  on  the  sanctity  of  the  fundamental  principles 
of  the  Constitution. 
7  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  12. 


Protester  and  Patriot  85 

From  this  time,  Lincoln  ceased  to  be  a  mere  local  politi 
cian.  He  became  intensely  concerned  over  national  questions. 
Naturally,  a  man  of  broad  views,  he  soon  threw  off  the  coil 
of  locality,  and  with  zeal  invaded  the  arena  of  national 
issues.  His  mind  ranged  over  the  general  domain  for  ma 
terials.  Local  issues  were  only  stepping  stones  to  him. 
Leaving  the  valley  of  minor  matters,  with  exuberant  spirits, 
he  rejoicingly  entered  the  new  land  of  larger  import,  and 
of  broader  moment  to  the  weal  of  the  nation.  For  the  first 
time  he  encountered  extensive  questions  concerning  the  very 
foundations  of  the  Republic. 

"Towering  genius,"  he  said,  "disdains  a  beaten  path.  It 
seeks  regions  hitherto  unexplored.  It  sees  no  distinction  in 
adding  story  to  story  upon  the  monuments  of  fame  erected 
to  the  memory  of  others.  It  denies  that  it  is  glory  enough 
to  serve  under  any  chief.  It  scorns  to  tread  in  the  footsteps 
of  any  predecessor,  however  illustrious.  It  thirsts  and  burns 
for  distinction;  and  if  possible,  it  will  have  it,  whether  at 
the  expense  of  emancipating  slaves  or  enslaving  freemen."  8 

We  here  strike  a  golden  vein  in  his  character.  Ranging 
over  the  world's  activities  for  an  illustration  to  rival  the 
ambition  of  towering  genius,  he  finds  it  in  the  enslavement  or 
emancipation  of  a  race.  Out  of  the  loneliness  of  his  indi 
viduality,  out  of  the  solemnity  of  his  deliberations,  he  grew 
into  a  great  character.  It  is  his  own  illustration  dug  out  of 
his  mental  experience,  a  product  of  a  mind  brooding  over 
a  national  destiny.  He  saw  with  unerring  vision,  for  men 
did  come  in  his  own  generation  who  did  not  scruple  to  climb 
to  power  upon  the  back  of  an  enslaved  people.  The  true 
Lincoln  consists  not  only  of  the  humble  man,  of  homely  face, 
gaunt  form,  shambling  limbs,  quaint  utterance,  rude  story 
and  humble  way.  We  may  also  see  him  in  his  early  manhood 

•Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  13. 


86  Lincoln  the  Politician 

with  Titan  power,  fighting  and  triumphing  over  the  brute 
forces  of  his  being,  over  his  ambition,  and  towering  to  the 
greatness  of  righteous  triumph.  Conduct  is  only  the  shadow 
of  soul  struggle.  Nearly  three  decades  before  the  Emanci 
pation,  its  destiny  was  determined  in  no  small  measure  by  the 
events  that  led  to  the  murder  of  Lovejoy. 


CHAPTER  VI 

PARTISAN  IN  STATE  AND   NATIONAL  AFFAIRS 

campaign  of  1838  did  not  differ  materially  from 
that  of  previous  years.  A  colleague  of  Lincoln  says 
that  they  called  at  nearly  every  home ;  that  it  was  customary 
to  keep  some  whiskey  in  the  house,  for  private  use  and  to 
treat  guests ;  that  the  subject  was  always  mentioned  as  a 
matter  of  etiquette,  but  with  the  remark  to  Lincoln  that 
though  he  never  drank,  his  friend  might  like  to  take  a  little. 
Lincoln  often  told  his  associates  that  he  never  drank  and  had 
no  desire  for  drink,  nor  the  companionship  of  drinking  men. 

Some  light  is  thrown  on  the  nature  of  the  conduct  of  office 
seekers  by  the  following  incident:  During  this  campaign, 
Douglas  and  Stuart,  candidates  for  Congress,  "fought  like 
tigers  in  Herndon's  grocery,  over  a  floor  that  was  drenched 
with  slops,  and  gave  up  the  struggle  only  when  both  were 
exhausted.  Then,  as  a  further  entertainment  to  the  popu 
lace,  Mr.  Stuart  ordered  a  'barrel  of  whiskey  and  wine.' ' 

Joshua  Speed  states  that  some  of  the  Whigs  contributed 
a  purse  of  two  hundred  dollars  to  enable  Lincoln  to  pay  his 
personal  expense  in  the  canvass.  After  the  election,  the  can 
didate  handed  Speed  $199.25,  with  the  request  that  he  return 
it  to  the  subscribers.  "I  did  not  need  the  money,"  said  he, 
"I  made  the  canvass  on  my  own  horse ;  my  entertainment  be 
ing  at  the  houses  of  friends,  cost  me  nothing;  and  my  only 
outlay  was  seventy-five  cents  for  a  barrel  of  cider,  which 

1    2Lamon,  230. 

87 


88  Lwcolm,  the  Politician 

some  farm  hands  insisted  I  should  treat  them  to."  3 

On  one  occasion,  Col.  Taylor,  a  demagogue  of  the  Demo 
cratic  party,  was  hypocritically  appealing  to  his  "horny 
handed  neighbors"  in  language  of  feigned  adulation.  Lin 
coln  knew  his  man.  He  deftly  removed  the  vest  of  the  orator 
and  revealed  to  his  astonished  hearers  "a  ruffled  shirt  front 
glittering  with  watch  chain,  seals  and  other  golden  jewels." 
The  speaker  stood  confused.  The  audience  roared  with 
laughter.  When  it  came  Lincoln's  turn  to  answer,  he  re 
torted.  "While  Colonel  Taylor  was  making  these  charges 
against  the  Whigs  over  the  country,  riding  in  fine  carriages, 
wearing  ruffled  shirts,  kid  gloves,  massive  gold  watch  chains 
with  large  gold  seals,  and  flourishing  a  heavy  gold-headed 
cane,  I  was  a  poor  boy,  hired  on  a  flat-boat  at  eight  dollars 
a  month,  and  had  only  one  pair  of  breeches  to  my  back,  and 
they  were  buckskin.  Now  if  you  know  the  nature  of  buck 
skin  when  wet  and  dried  by  the  sun,  it  will  shrink;  and  my 
breeches  kept  shrinking  until  they  left  several  inches  of  my 
legs  bare  between  the  tops  of  my  socks  and  the  lower  part  of 
my  breeches ;  and  whilst  I  was  growing  taller  they  were 
growing  shorter,  and  so  much  tighter  that  they  left  a  blue 
streak  around  my  legs  that  can  be  seen  to  this  day.  If  you 
call  this  aristocracy  I  plead  guilty  to  the  charge."  4 

When  the  Legislature  convened  in  1838,  Lincoln  was  a 
candidate  of  his  party  for  speaker.  His  opponent  was  cho 
sen  by  a  plurality  of  one  vote.  Lamon  declares  that  this 
distinction  was  a  barren  honor,  and  known  to  be  such  at  the 
time,  but  cites  no  reason  for  his  statement.5  At  least  the 
humble  representative  of  Sangamon  County  continued  to  rise 
in  the  esteem  of  his  associates.  His  activity  was  crowned 
with  the  approval  of  those  with  whom  he  fought  side  by 
side  in  the  turmoil  and  debate  of  controversy.  It  is  a  sig- 

8  Nicolay  &  Hay,  1,  158.     *  Herndon,  1,  186.  6  Lamon,  212. 


Partisan  in  State  and  National  Affairs  89 

nificant  indication  of  his  diplomacy.  He  had  so  won  the  con 
fidence  of  his  companions  that  even  differences  on  that  slav 
ery  issue  did  not  cause  him  the  loss  of  their  esteem  and  favor. 
The  recipient  of  such  an  honor  is  likely  to  be  the  possessor  of 
amiable  personal  qualities  that  call  forth  devotion,  even  more 
than  the  sturdy  qualities  of  talent  and  ability.6  In  matters 
of  political  expediency,  Lincoln  did  not  run  athwart  the 
sentiments  of  the  majority.  Despite  the  mutterings  of  dis 
content  in  some  quarters,  despite  a  growing  feeling  that  the 
internal  improvement  policy  was  likely  to  involve  the  State 
in  disaster,  the  finance  committee,  of  which  Lincoln  was  a 
prominent  member,  advised  even  further  indulgence  in  the 
fatal  policy.  Finally,  the  fearful  financial  condition  of  the 
State  stared  the  people  and  their  representatives  in  the  face. 
The  supporters  of  the  internal  improvement  system  stub 
bornly  began  to  yield  to  the  policy  of  retrenchment.  Still, 
in  the  Special  Session  of  1839,  assembled  to  deliberate  over 
the  momentous  state  of  affairs,  Lincoln  with  peculiar  logic 
urged  they  were  so  far  advanced  in  a  general  system  of  in 
ternal  improvements  that  they  could  not  retreat  from  it 
without  disgrace  and  great  loss,  and  that  the  conclusion  was 
that  they  must  advance.7 

Lincoln  was  one  of  thirty-three  members  to  vote  for  laying 
the  bill  repealing  improvements  on  the  table,  while  sixty  op 
posed  this  action ;  and  he  was  one  of  thirty-five  who  voted 
against  the  repeal  of  the  internal  improvement  policy,  while 
thirty-seven  voted  for  it.8  Thus,  to  the  very  end,  Lincoln 
persisted  in  the  disastrous  policy  that  clouded  the  history 
and  prosperity  of  Illinois  for  many  years. 

6Lamon,  212. 

7  From  Lincoln's  Report  for  Finance  Committee  on  Expediency  of  Pur 
chasing  all  Unsold  Lands  of  United  States  in  Illinois,  Jan.  23,  1839,  223, 

8  House  Journal  of  1839,  265. 


90  Lincoln  the  Politician 

Lincoln  basked  in  political  events.  He  was  alive  to  the 
details  in  political  strategy.  In  November,  1839,  he  wrote 
to  Stuart,  his  partner,  in  regard  to  a  voter :  "Evan  Butler  is 
jealous  that  you  never  send  your  compliments  to  him.  You 
must  not  neglect  him  next  time."  9 

From  the  very  beginning,  he  concerned  himself  with  the 
candidacy  of  General  Harrison.  Recognizing  its  elemental 
political  strength,  he  watched  its  growth  with  increasing  in 
terest.  Harrison  had  never  distinguished  himself  as  a  public 
citizen.  Lincoln  looked  at  the  political  side  of  the  picture 
alone,  little  dreaming  that  the  day  was  to  come  when  his 
election  was  to  depend,  in  some  measure,  on  the  same  emo 
tions  that  promoted  the  triumph  of  Harrison.  In  both  cam 
paigns  the  log  cabin  played  a  dominant  part. 

Speed's  store  in  Springfield  was  the  retreat  of  Lincoln, 
Douglas  and  Baker,  and  other  political  leaders  of  the  domi 
nant  parties.  However,  partisanship  was  about  to  triumph, 
and  common  meeting  places  were  soon  to  become  unknown. 
In  December,  1839,  just  as  the  campaign  of  1840  was  loom 
ing  up,  a  political  discussion  between  the  leaders  grew  violent 
in  the  grocery  over  the  national  issue.  During  the  angry 
debate,  Douglas,  with  his  imperial  manner,  flung  forth  the 
taunt:  "Gentlemen,  this  is  no  place  to  talk  politics;  we  will 
discuss  the  question  publicly  with  you."  10 

Lincoln,  who  had  schooled  himself  in  logical  dissertation, 
loved  a  political  contest.  He  had  met  the  champions  of  the 
Legislature  without  dismay,  and  was  more  feared  than  fear 
ing.  Shortly  afterward  Lincoln  presented  a  resolution  to 
accept  the  flaunting  challenge  of  Douglas.  Logan,  Baker, 
Browning  and  Lincoln  were  the  chosen  disputants  of  the 
Whig  cause.  The  Democrats  put  forth  Douglas,  Calhoun, 
Lambourn  and  Thomas  as  their  champions.  Each  speaker 
•Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  41.  10Lamon,  232. 


Partisan  in  State  and  National  Affairs  91 

was  allowed  an  evening  for  his  address.  This  controversy 
was  long  known  as  "the  great  debate." 

That  Lincoln  was  climbing  to  eminence  slowly,  that  he 
was  marvelously  free  from  egoism  and  the  aggressiveness  of 
the  common  political  orator  is  manifest  from  the  first  para 
graph  of  his  address:  "It  is  peculiarly  embarrassing  to  me 
to  attempt  a  continuance  of  the  discussion,  on  this  evening, 
which  has  been  conducted  in  this  hall  on  several  preceding 
ones.  It  is  so  because  on  each  of  these  evenings  there  was 
a  much  fuller  attendance  than  now,  without  any  reason  for 
its  being  so,  except  the  greater  interest  the  community  feel 
in  the  speakers  who  addressed  them  than  they  do  in  him  who 
is  to  do  so  now.  I  am,  indeed,  apprehensive  that  the  few 
who  have  attended  have  done  so  more  to  spare  my  mortifica 
tion  than  in  the  hope  of  being  interested  in  anything  I  may 
be  able  to  say.  This  circumstance  casts  a  damp  upon  my 
spirits,  which  I  am  sure  I  shall  be  unable  to  overcome  during 
the  evening."  12 

His  manner  of  holding  an  opponent  to  the  point  at  issue, 
his  directness  of  speech  are  strikingly  displayed :  "I  now  ask 
the  audience,  when  Mr.  Calhoun  shall  answer  me,  to  hold 
him  to  the  questions.  Permit  him  not  to  escape  them.  Re 
quire  him  either  to  show  that  the  subtreasury  would  not  in 
juriously  affect  the  currency,  or  that  we  should  in  some  way 
receive  an  equivalent  for  that  injurious  effect.  Require  him 
either  to  show  that  the  subtreasury  would  not  be  more  ex 
pensive  as  a  fiscal  agent  than  a  bank,  or  that  we  would 
in  some  way  be  compensated  for  the  additional  expense."  13 

Although  of  limited  experience  in  public  controversy,  the 
least  known  of  the  Whig  debaters,  diffident  of  his  own  ca 
pacity,  yet  he  sought  the  most  brilliant  and  distinguished 

"Lamon,  232.  "Ibid.,  29-30. 

"Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  21. 


98  Lincoln  the  Politician 

debater  in  the  Democratic  party — Douglas.  Free  from 
sham,  he  was  merciless  in  exposing  it  in  others,  as  the  fol 
lowing  attack  on  his  elusive  antagonist  indicates:  "Those 
who  heard  Mr.  Douglas  recollect  that  he  indulged  himself 
in  a  contemptuous  expression  of  pity  for  me.  'Now,  he's  got 
me,'  thought  I.  But  when  he  went  on  to  say  that  five  mil 
lions  of  the  expenditure  of  1838  were  payments  of  the  French 
indemnities,  which  I  knew  to  be  untrue;  that  five  millions 
had  been  for  the  Postoffice,  which  I  knew  to  be  untrue ;  that 
ten  millions  had  been  for  the  Maine  boundary  war,  which 
I  not  only  knew  to  be  untrue,  but  supremely  ridiculous  also ; 
and  when  I  saw  that  he  was  stupid  enough  to  hope  that  I 
would  permit  such  groundless  and  audacious  assertions  to 
be  unexposed, — I  readily  consented  that,  on  the  score  both 
of  veracity  and  sagacity,  the  audience  would  judge  whether 
he  or  I  were  the  more  deserving  of  the  world's  contempt."  14 

Sober  in  the  main  as  the  speeches  of  Webster,  on  the  cur 
rency  issue  Lincoln  only  once  let  loose  his  rollicking  and  suf 
fusing  sense  of  humor:  "The  Democrats  are  vulnerable  in 
the  heel — I  admit  is  not  merely  figuratively,  but  literally 
true.  Who  that  looks  but  for  a  moment  at  their  Swart- 
wouts,  their  Prices,  their  Harringtons,  and  their  hundreds 
of  others,  scampering  away  with  the  public  money  to  Texas, 
to  Europe,  and  to  every  spot  of  the  earth  where  a  villain 
may  hope  to  find  refuge  from  justice,  can  at  all  doubt  that 
they  are  most  distressingly  affected  in  their  heels  with  a 
species  of  'running  itch.'  It  seems  that  this  malady  of  their 
heels  operates  on  these  sound-headed  and  honest-hearted 
creatures  very  much  like  the  cork  leg  in  the  comic  song  did 
on  its  owner :  which,  when  he  had  once  got  started  on  it, 
the  more  he  tried  to  stop  it,  the  more  it  would  run  away."  15 

That  he  was  still  subject  to  the  fashion  of  pioneer  exuber- 
14  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  35.  "  Ibid.,  35-36. 


Partisan  in  State  and  National  Affairs  93 

ant  expression ;  that  he  was  somewhat  entangled  in  the  grow 
ing  partisanship  of  the  time,  is  thoroughly  evident  from  his 
stormy  peroration:  "Many  free  countries  have  lost  their 
liberty,  and  ours  may  lose  hers ;  but  if  she  shall,  let  it  be 
my  proudest  plume,  not  that  I  was  the  last  to  desert,  but 
that  I  never  deserted  her.  I  know  that  the  great  volcano  at 
Washington,  aroused  and  directed  by  the  evil  spirit  that 
reigns  there,  is  belching  forth  the  lava  of  political  corrup 
tion  in  a  current  broad  and  deep,  which  is  sweeping  with 
frightful  velocity  over*  the  whole  length  and  breadth  of  the 
land,  bidding  fair  to  leave  unscathed  no  green  spot  or 
living  thing;  while  on  its  bosom  are  riding,  like  demons  on 
the  waves  of  hell,  the  imps  of  that  evil  spirit,  and  fiendishly 
taunting  all  those  who  dare  resist  its  destroying  course 
with  the  helplessness  of  their  effort;  and,  knowing  this,  I 
cannot  deny  that  all  may  be  swept  away.  Broken  by  it  I, 
too,  may  be;  bow  to  it  I  never  will.  The  probability  that 
we  may  fall  in  the  struggle  ought  not  to  deter  us  from  the 
support  of  a  cause  we  believe  to  be  just;  it  shall  not  deter 
me."  16 

This  fulsome  conclusion  more  than  his  sustained  logical 
argument  swept  over  his  audience  and  made  it  a  pop 
ular  success,  so  that  admiring  friends  promoted  its  pub 
lication  in  the  Sangamon  Journal.  Lamon,  however, 
curtly  makes  this  dampening  comment  on  his  eloquent  dic 
tion:  "Considering  that  the  times  were  extremely  peaceful, 
and  that  the  speaker  saw  no  bloodshed  except  what  flowed 
from  the  noses  of  belligerents  in  the  groceries  about  Spring 
field,  the  speech  seems  to  have  been  unnecessarily  defiant."  1T 

The  Committee  of  Whigs  in  charge  of  Harrison's  political 
campaign  in  Illinois  issued  a  circular  urging  the  organiza 
tion  of  the  whole  State  for  the  Presidential  contest.  Lin- 

16 Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  36  "Lamon,  236. 


94  Lincoln  the  Politician 

coin  was  a  prominent  member  of  this  body  and  his  style 
shows  through  this  appeal.  It  was  a  combination  of  skillful 
play  to  party  spirit,  and  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  mode 
of  conducting  a  successful  campaign.  "To  overthrow  the 
trained  bands  that  are  opposed  to  us,  whose  salaried  officers 
are  ever  on  the  watch,  and  whose  misguided  followers  are 
ever  ready  to  obey  their  smallest  commands,  every  Whig 
must  not  only  know  his  duty,  but  must  firmly  resolve,  what 
ever  of  time  and  labor  it  may  cost,  boldly  and  faithfully  to 
do  it.  Our  intention  is  to  organize  the  whole  State,  so  that 
every  Whig  can  be  brought  to  the  polls  in  the  coming  presi 
dential  contest.  We  cannot  do  this,  however,  without  your 
cooperation ;  and  as  we  do  our  duty,  so  we  shall  expect  you 
to  do  yours."  18 

The  circular  then  proposed  a  new  method  of  bringing  out 
the  full  Whig  vote,  in  essence  the  same  that  is  now  employed 
by  every  successful  political  organization.  The  following 
was  the  plan  of  organization : — 

(1)  To  divide  every  county  into  small  districts,  and  to 
appoint  in  each  a  subcommittee,  with  the  duty  to  make  a 
perfect  list  of  all  the  voters,  and  to  ascertain  their  choice 
with  certainty,  all  doubtful  voters  to  be  designated  in  sepa 
rate  lines. 

(£)  To  keep  a  constant  watch  on  the  doubtful  voters,  and 
from  time  to  time  have  them  talked  to  by  those  they  trusted, 
and  to  place  in  their  hands  convincing  documents. 

(3)  To  report,  at  least  once  a  month,  and  on  election 
days  see  that  every  Whig  was  brought  to  the  polls.19 

Lincoln  was  brought  up  in  a  practical  school  where  votes 

are  a  matter  of  calculation,  where  the  things  done  on  the 

stage  were  plotted  and  planned  behind  the  stage.     Few  men 

were   more    thoroughly    trained    in    the    methods    of    secur- 

18  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  38.  w  Ibid, 


Partisan  in  State  and  National  Affairs  95 

ing  results.  He  eagerly  wrote  to  Stuart  for  copies  of  the 
"Life  of  Harrison,"  and  also  requested  "The  Senate  Journal 
of  New  York"  of  September,  1814.  "I  have  a  newspaper 
article  which  says  that  that  document  proves  that  Van 
Buren  voted  against  raising  troops  in  the  last  war.  And 
in  general  send  me  everything  you  think  will  be  a  good  'war- 
club.'  "  20  He  was  learning  that  political  battles  are  won 
and  lost,  not  alone  on  discussion  of  principles,  but  on  appeals 
to  the  emotions  of  men. 

As  a  politician,  his  judgment  prevailed  over  his  sentiment. 
He  was  not  carried  away  by  the  enthusiasm  of  the  hour,  but 
looked  beneath  the  surface  for  events  that  suggested  public 
sentiment.  So  he  noted  with  discernment  "A  great  many  of 
the  grocery  sort  of  Van  Buren  men,  as  formerly,  are  out 
for  Harrison.  Our  Irish  blacksmith,  Gregory,  is  for  Har 
rison.  I  believe  I  may  say  that  all  our  friends  think  the 
chances  of  carrying  the  State  very  good."  21 

For  the  first  time  in  years,  the  Whigs  conducted  a  cam 
paign  more  aggressive  than  that  of  their  opponents.  Gen 
eral  Harrison  represented  no  definite  political  policy.  The 
log  cabin,  the  coon  skin  cap,  the  political  songs,  the  enthusi 
asm  of  even  the  children,  all  this  was  more  potent  than  the 
solid  and  sober  discussion  of  such  issues  as  the  currency, 
executive  power,  American  labor,  protection  and  internal 
improvements. 

The  sober  thinking  and  dignified  leaders  of  the  Whig  party 
were  somewhat  shocked  by  the  uncouth  campaign  of  1840. 
It  was  not  in  keeping  with  the  dignity  of  its  traditions. 
Leaders  like  Webster  brooked  with  impatience  a  campaign 
in  which  judgment  was  fairly  forgotten. 

The  whole  campaign  was  one  of  luxuriant  freedom,  of  in 
tense  excitement,  of  exaggerated  discourse.  A  resolution 

20  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  39.  21  Ibid.,  40. 


96  Lmcoln  the  Politician 

adopted  at  Springfield  during  March,  indicates  the  language 
that  was  abroad:  "Resolved,  that  the  election  of  Harrison 
and  Tyler  would  emancipate  the  land  from  the  Catilines  who 
infest  it ;  would  restore  it  to  prosperity  and  peace,  and  bring 
back  the  time  when  good  measures,  good  principles  and  good 
men  would  control  the  administration  of  our  government."  22 

Lincoln  was  foremost  in  the  emotional  fight  of  1840.  With 
all  the  zeal  of  eager  youth,  he  rushed  into  the  contest.  As  a 
presidential  elector,  he  traversed  a  large  portion  of  the  State. 
Thus  a  newspaper  of  the  day  says :  He  is  going  it  with  a 
perfect  rush.  "Thus  far  the  Locofocos  have  not  been  able  to 
start  a  man  that  can  hold  a  candle  to  him  in  political  de 
bate.  All  of  their  crack  nags  that  have  entered  the  list 
against  him  have  come  off  the  field  crippled  or  broke  down. 
He  is  now  wending  his  way  north."  23 

An  incident  little  known,  but  of  vast  importance  in  illum 
ining  the  kind  of  orator  Lincoln  was  in  1840,  is  found  in  an 
almost  forgotten  book.  Therein  we  find  the  impression  that 
gaunt  Lincoln  made  upon  a  cultured  resident  and  distin 
guished  lawyer  of  St.  Louis,  who  says  that  at  a  gathering  of 
Whigs  in  April,  1840,  at  Belleville,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  the  first 
speaker  to  an  immense  crowd.  "He  rang  all  the  changes  upon 
'coon  skins,'  'hard  cider,'  'log  cabins,'  etc.,  and  among  other 
things  he  launched  forth  in  true  Lincoln  style  and  manner 
and  said  he  had  been  'raised  over  thar  on  Irish  potatoes  and 
buttermilk  and  mauling  rails.'  ...  I  went  to  Col.  Edward 
Baker,  I  think  it  was,  and  told  him  for  goodness  sake  to 
try  and  get  Lincoln  down  from  the  stand;  that  he  was 
doing  us  more  harm  than  good  .  .  .  when  Lincoln  goes  to 
weaving  his  buttermilk,  etc.,  it  would  seem  as  if  we  were 
verging  rather  too  near  onto  the  ridiculous.  We  succeeded 

23  History  of  Sangamon  County,  252. 

28  Transactions  of  the  Illinois  State  Historical  Society,  8,  224. 


Partisan  m  State  and  National  Affairs  97 

very  soon  in  getting  Lincoln  down  from  the  stand  and  got 
up  another  speaker  who  seemed  to  have  more  judgment  in 
managing  the  canvass."  24 

This  statement  should  not  be  neglected.  It  is  the  judg 
ment  of  a  civilization  different  from  that  of  pioneer  Illinois. 
Events  had  hardly  sobered  the  style  and  the  manner  of  the 
sensitive  politician  of  Sangamon  County.  Later  on  he  grew 
to  a  more  reserved  and  severe  exposition  of  political  discus 
sion,  grew  to  appeal  to  the  judgment  rather  than  the  senti 
ments  of  men,  grew  to  lift  the  debate  of  the  hour  above  the 
clash  of  partisan  controversy. 

During  this  campaign,  he  once  failed  to  come  up  to  the 
requirements  of  the  occasion  in  a  debate  with  Douglas.  A 
friend  describes  his  distress  at  his  failure:  "He  begged  to 
be  permitted  to  try  it  again,  and  was  reluctantly  indulged ; 
and  in  the  next  effort  he  transcended  our  highest  expecta 
tions.  I  never  heard  and  never  expect  to  hear  such  a  trium 
phant  vindication  as  he  then  gave  of  Whig  measures  or 
policy.  He  never  after,  to  my  knowledge,  fell  below  him 
self."  25 

The  debates  of  this  campaign  were  a  product  of  the  ex 
cited  and  heated  condition  of  the  public  mind.  Thus,  Gen. 
John  Ewing,  of  Indiana,  challenged  the  whole  Democratic 
party  and  threatened  to  annihilate  it.  Douglas  was  pitted 
against  him.  There  was  no  formality  at  the  meetings.  Each 
was  to  speak  an  hour  alternately.  The  debate  was  to  begin 
at  eight  and  adjourn  at  twelve;  meet  at  two  and  continue 
to  sundown  each  day  until  the  contest  would  be  ended.  At 
the  end  of  the  fifth  day,  Ewing  "threw  up  the  sponge,"  and 
a  vigorous  shout  was  given  by  the  Democrats.  "E.  D.  Baker, 
notified  of  Ewing's  defeat,  mounted  a  butcher  block  and  be 
gan  to  address  us.  They  protested  that  the  game  of  'two 

24  Darbey,  447.  »  Herndon,  1,  190. 


98  Lincoln  the  Politician 

pluck  one'  could  not  be  tolerated.  He  persisted  and  at  once 
the  cry  was  raised  'pull  him  down.'  At  length  he  yielded, 
otherwise  it  would  have  ended  with  a  number  of  broken 
heads."  26 

Another  incident  still  further  discloses  the  character  of 
the  controversy  that  prevailed  at  that  period.  Arnold  says 
that  Baker  was  speaking  in  a  room  under  Lincoln's  office,  and 
communicating  with  it  by  a  trap  door.  Lincoln  in  his  office, 
listened.  Baker,  becoming  excited,  abused  the  Democrats. 
A  cry  was  raised,  "Pull  him  off  the  stand !"  Lincoln,  know 
ing  a  general  fight  was  imminent,  descended  through  the 
opening  of  the  trap  door,  and  springing  to  the  side  of  Baker, 
said:  "Gentlemen,  let  us  not  disgrace  the  age  and  country 
in  which  we  live.  This  is  a  land  where  freedom  of  speech  is 
guaranteed.  Baker  has  a  right  to  speak,  and  a  right  to  be 
permitted  to  do  so.  I  am  here  to  protect  him,  and  no  man 
shall  take  him  from  this  stand  if  I  can  prevent  it."  Baker 
finished  without  further  interruption.27 

Lincoln  and  Douglas  often  met  in  debate  in  this  campaign. 
Lamon  states  that  Lincoln  in  the  course  of  one  speech  im 
puted  to  Van  Buren  the  great  sin  of  having  voted  in  the 
New  York  State  Convention  for  negro  suffrage  with  a  prop 
erty  qualification.  Douglas  denied  the  fact,  and  Lincoln 
attempted  to  prove  his  statement  by  reading  a  certain  pas 
sage  from  Holland's  Life  of  Van  Buren,  whereupon  Douglas 
got  mad,  snatched  up  the  book,  and,  tossing  it  into  the 
crowd,  remarked  sententiously,  "Damn  such  a  book !"  28 

The  above  encounter  shows  Lincoln's  method  of  attack. 
He  followed  his  brilliant  antagonist  with  facts  that  all  his 
ingenuity  could  not  evade.  From  that  day,  Lincoln  loved 
nothing  better  than  a  fray  with  the  feared  champion  of  De- 

26  History  of  Sangamon  County,  205. 

*  Arnold,  6T-68.  »  Lamon,  236. 


Partisan  in  State  and  National  Affairs  99 

mocracy.  No  other  Whig  orator  could  fret  Douglas  as  Lin 
coln  did.  They  were  as  different  in  mental  and  moral  out 
look  as  they  were  in  appearance.  Lincoln  saw  through  his 
skillful  opponent.  He  knew  his  strength  and  he  knew  his 
weakness.  He  was  prepared  for  his  chameleon-like  attacks 
and  onslaughts.  While  contemporaries  hardly  saw  in  Lin 
coln  the  future  rival  of  the  growing  Douglas,  still  Lincoln 
was  gaining  strength  in  the  technic  of  debate  that  was  later 
to  be  of  inestimable  service  to  him  in  controversies  of  na 
tional  import. 

In  the  1840-1  Legislature,  Lincoln  was  again  the  candidate 
of  his  party  for  speaker.  As  leader  of  the  minority,  he 
doubtless  deemed  it  an  obligation  on  his  part  to  provide  some 
plan  to  pay  the  State  debt  and  save  its  honor.  He  no  longer 
cherished  the  illusion  of  gaining  fame  as  the  DeWitt  Clinton 
of  Illinois.  There  were  some  in  the  Legislature  who  boldly 
favored  repudiation  of  the  whole  State  debt.  Others  advo 
cated  payment  of  such  part  of  it  as  the  State  actually  re 
ceived  an  equivalent  for.  Only  a  few  dared  to  demand  ade 
quate  taxation  for  the  payment  of  the  interest  on  the  bonds. 
That  was  an  unpopular  expedient. 

Lincoln  walked  the  middle  way.  He  was  not  a  friend  of  re 
pudiation  and  still  he  did  not  court  a  loss  of  public  esteem 
by  proposing  substantial  direct  taxation.  His  bill  provided 
that  the  Governor  should  issue  interest  bonds  as  might  be 
absolutely  necessary  for  the  payment  of  the  interest  upon 
the  lawful  debt  of  the  State.  He  declared  that  he  submitted 
the  proposition  with  great  diffidence;  that  he  felt  his  share 
of  the  responsibility  in  the  crisis;  and,  that  after  revolving 
in  his  mind  every  scheme  which  seemed  to  afford  the  least 
prospect  of  relief,  he  submitted  this  as  the  result  of  his  own 
deliberations;  that  it  might  be  objected  that  the  bonds 
would  not  be  salable ;  that  he  was  no  financier,  but  that  he 


j. 

Lincoln  the  Politician 

-  •  ^ 

be  regarded  as  safe  from  the  encroachments  of  unconstitu 
tional  legislation.33 

This  strong  statement  from  the  Whigs  represented  the  con 
science  of  the  State.  The  protesting  element  is  generally 
alert  in  awakening  public  sentiment  or  responding  to  it  on 
the  issues  of  the  day,  thus  affording  a  wholesome  check  upon 
the  dominant  organization  in  making  inroads  upon  righteous 
government.  In  this  way,  it  becomes  the  selfish  interest  of  at 
Jeast  one  political  party  to  be  on  the  side  of  honest  states 
manship. 

At  no  time  was  Lincoln  more  active  in  legislative  affairs 
than  during  the  early  part  of  the  1840-41  session.  In  the 
Internal  improvement  system,  bank  discussions,  the  attack 
upon  the  Sangamon  delegation  and  in  almost  every  legisla 
tive  proceeding  he  was  ready  to  bear  his  share  of  the  fight. 

But  during  the  session,  an  event  occurred  that  shadowed 
his  political  career.  Lincoln,  the  democrat,  the  man  of  hu 
mility,  of  common  ancestry,  was  attracted  to  Mary  Todd, 
a  Southern  aristocrat,  a  woman  of  beauty  and  ambition. 
Lamon  finds  the  source  of  this  in  selfishness,  saying:  "Born 
in  the  humblest  circumstances,  uneducated,  poor,  acquainted 
with  flatboats  and  groceries,  but  a  stranger  to  the  drawing- 
room,  it  was  natural  that  he  should  seek  in  a  matrimonial 
alliance  those  social  advantages  which  he  felt  were  necessary 
to  his  political  advancement."  34 

This  biographer  overlooks  the  fact  that  it  is  not  an  un 
common  event  for  a  homely,  humble  man  to  be  diverted  from 
the  common  highway  as  Lincoln  was.  It  is  very  hard  to 
read  in  this  story  anything  of  designing  selfishness.  At  one 
time  severing  his  engagement  to  Miss  Todd,  the  same  de 
spondency  that  crushed  him  upon  the  death  of  Ann  Rut- 
ledge  again  became  his  master.  His  own  words  describe 

88  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  47.  84  Lamon,  237-8. 


Partisan  m  State  and  National  Affairs  103 

his  condition:  "I  am  now  the  most  miserable  man  living. 
If  what  I  feel  were  equally  distributed  to  the  whole  human 
family,  there  would  not  be  one  cheerful  face  on  the  earth. 
Whether  I  shall  ever  be  better,  I  cannot  tell ;  I  awfully  fore 
bode  I  shall  not.  To  remain  as  I  am  is  impossible;  I  must 
die  or  be  better,  it  appears  to  me."  35 

He  was  absent  from  the  Legislature  for  nearly 
three  weeks.  A  visit  to  his  friend  Speed  in  Kentucky  re 
called  him  to  his  better  nature.36  The  injustice  he  had  done 
Miss  Todd  rankled  until  a  reconciliation  followed.  Out  of 
this  there  arose  events  that  culminated  in  a  duel.  Though 
this  event  was  soon  hushed,  yet  its  echoes  lingered,  for  he 
said  in  1858,  "If  all  the  good  things  I  have  done  are  remem 
bered  as  long  and  as  well  as  my  scrape  with  Shields,  it  is 
plain  I  shall  not  soon  be  forgotten."  37 

The  panic  of  1837  and  the  disintegration  of  the  internal 
improvement  system  were  holding  their  requiem  over  the 
finances  of  the  State.  Money  was  a  furtive  visitor.  The  cur 
rency  of  the  State  banks,  fairly  worthless,  was  nearly  the 
only  circulating  medium.  During  the  summer  of  1841,  the 
Administration  invalidated  the  use  of  State  Bank  notes  for 
the  payment  of  taxes  but  the  salary  of  lawmakers  was  still 
payable  in  currency.  The  Whigs  hastened  to  charge  the 
state  officers  with  adding  to  the  burdens  of  the  people  that 
they  might  be  assured  of  their  salaries.  The  Auditor  of 
the  State  was  James  Shields.  Rather  vain  and  aggressive, 
he  was  not  inclined  "to  beware  of  an  entrance  into  a 
quarrel." 

It  was  at  this  time  that  Lincoln  was  having  stolen  con 
ferences  with  Miss  Todd.  The  restless  spirit  of  the  latter 
sought  the  political  field  for  adventure.  A  daughter  of  lei- 

35  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  45. 

36  Herndon,  1,  202.  w  Ibid.,  217. 


100  Lincoln  the  Politician 

believed  the  bonds  would  be  equal  to  the  best  in  the  market, 
and  that  as  to  the  impropriety  of  borrowing  money  to  pay 
interest  on  borrowed  money, — he  would  reply,  that  if  it 
were  a  fact  that  our  population  and  wealth  were  increasing 
in  a  ratio  greater  than  the  increased  interest  hereby  incurred, 
then  it  was  not  a  good  objection.29 

He  concluded  with  characteristic  modesty  that,  "he  had 
no  pride  in  its  success  as  a  measure  of  his  own,  but  submit 
ted  it  to  the  wisdom  of  the  House,  with  the  hope,  that,  if 
there  was  anything  objectionable  in  it,  it  would  be  pointed 
out  and  amended."  30 

Lamon  calls  it  a  loose  document,  as  the  Governor  was  to 
determine  the  "amount  of  bonds  necessary,"  and  the  sums 
for  which  they  should  be  issued,  and  interest  was  to  be  paid 
only  upon  the  "lawful"  debt ;  and  the  Governor  was  to  de 
termine  what  part  of  it  was  lawful  and  what  was  unlawful.31 
Still  in  essence,  Lincoln's  plan  of  leaving  the  determination  of 
the  lawfulness  of  the  debt  to  an  authority  not  the  legislative, 
was  finally  adopted.32 

The  shameless  interference  with  the  judicial  system  of  Illi 
nois  about  1840  luridly  illustrates  the  enslaving  partisanship 
of  that  time.  Under  the  provision  of  the  State  Constitution 
permitting  every  white  male  adult  to  vote,  aliens  had  known 
the  right  of  suffrage  for  years.  Nine-tenths  of  the  aliens 
allied  themselves  with  the  Democratic  organization  so  that 
their  support  was  essential  to  its  success.  As  the  Presidential 
contest  grew  in  intensity  there  sprang  up  a  controversy 
about  these  unnaturalized  voters.  Each  party  arrayed  it 
self  on  the  side  of  its  own  interest.  The  Whigs  maintained 
that  the  Federal  Constitution  had  provided  against  the  par 
ticipation  of  aliens  in  the  affairs  of  government.  A  test 

29  Lamon,  214.  S1  Ibid.,  213-214. 

™Ibid.,  215.  "Ibid.,  215, 


Partisan  in  State  and  National  Affairs 


case  was  brought  to  the  Illinois  Supreme  Court  which  con 
sisted  of  three  Whigs  and  one  Democrat.  The  latter  in 
formed  Douglas,  in  advance,  that  the  majority  had  agreed 
upon  a  decision  unfavorable  to  the  alien  vote,  but  that  there 
was  a  technical  error  in  the  record.  This  knowledge  be 
came  serviceable  to  the  Democrats.  The  case,  by  reason  of 
the  imperfection,  was  put  over  to  the  December  term,  and 
10,000  alien  votes  saved  the  State  for  another  Democratic 
administration. 

The  attitude  of  the  Whig  judges  was  made  a  pretext  to  re 
organize  the  judiciary  by  increasing  their  number,  thus  en 
abling  the  political  complexion  of  that  tribunal  to  represent 
the  party  in  power.  Early  in  the  winter,  however,  the  Su 
preme  Court  rendered  a  decision  that  affirmed  the  contention 
of  Douglas  and  his  party.  Still,  the  advocates  for  reor 
ganization  were  not  stayed  in  their  purpose,  and  they  moved 
forward  in  what  they  termed  a  reformation  of  the  judiciary. 

This  action  of  making  the  judiciary  dependent  on  the 
Legislature  was  extremely  pernicious  in  immediate  results. 
It  also  started  political  impulses  malignant  and  enduring, 
little  appreciated  by  those  who  wantonly  inaugurated  the 
change.  The  participation  of  Douglas  in  this  enterprise  was 
effectively  utilized  by  Lincoln  in  the  debate  of  1858.  It  is 
not  surprising  that  Lincoln  and  other  Whigs  in  the  Legisla 
ture  were  unwilling  witnesses  of  this  degradation.  They 
framed  protests,  declaring  that  the  immutable  principles  of 
justice  were  to  make  way  for  party  interests,  and  the  bonds 
of  social  order  were  to  be  rent  in  twain,  in  order  that  a  des 
perate  faction  might  be  sustained  at  the  expense  of  the  peo 
ple;  that  the  independence  of  the  judiciary  had  been  de 
stroyed;  that  hereafter  the  courts  would  be  independent  of 
the  people,  and  entirely  dependent  upon  the  Legislature ;  that 
rights  of  property  and  liberty  of  conscience  could  no  longer 


104  Lvncoki  the  Politician 

sure,  she  had  no  rival  in  sarcasm  in  Springfield.  Hunting 
for  material,  she  found  a  subject  in  the  pretentious  Auditor, 
and  enjoyed  worrying  the  sensitive  official.  Under  such  in 
fluences,  Lincoln  aided  or  sanctioned  the  composition  of  an 
article  ridiculing  Shields.  Like  many  similar  productions, 
it  professed  to  come  from  a  back-woods  settlement,  and  af 
fected  a  homely  if  not  a  vulgar  form  of  speech.  The  para 
graph  that  follows  is  a  sample  of  the  effusion: — 

"I  looked  in  at  the  window,  and  there  was  this  same  fellow 
Shields  floatin'  about  on  the  air,  without  heft  or  earthly  sub 
stance,  just  like  a  lock  of  cat-fur  where  cats  have  been 
fightin'. 

"He  was  paying  his  money  to  this  one,  and  that 
one,  and  t'other  one,  and  sufferin'  great  loss  because  it  wasn't 
silver  instead  of  State  paper;  and  the  sweet  distress  he 
seemed  to  be  in, — his  very  features,  in  the  ecstatic  agony  of 
his  soul,  spoke  audibly  and  distinctly,  'Dear  girls,  it  is  dis 
tressing,  but  I  cannot  marry  you  all.  Too  well  I  know  how 
much  you  suffer;  but  do,  do  remember,  it  is  not  my  fault 
that  I  am  so  handsome  and  so  interesting.'  "  38 

The  production  appeared  in  the  Sangamon  Journal,  and 
at  once  aroused  the  wrath  of  Shields.  A  demand  for  the 
identity  of  the  author  followed.  Doubtless  to  save  Miss 
Todd  from  entanglement,  Lincoln  announced  himself  as  the 
writer.  Thereupon,  Shields  demanded  a  full  retraction  of  all 
offensive  allusions.  Strangely  enough,  Lincoln  did  not  wel 
come  this  solution  of  the  situation.  He  took  advantage  of 
the  rather  ardent  demand  for  an  apology  and  held  his  ground 
with  these  words :  "Now,  sir,  there  is  in  this  so  much  assump 
tion  of  facts  and  so  much  of  menace  as  to  consequences,  that 
I  cannot  submit  to  answer  that  note  any  further  than  I  have, 
and  to  add  that  the  consequences  to  which  I  suppose  you 
88Lamon,  255,  256, 


Partisan  m  State  and  National  Affairs  105 

allude  would  be  matter  of  as  great  regret  to  me  as  it  pos 
sibly  could  to  you."  39 

With  such  a  start,  a  duel  for  a  time  seemed  inevitable.  At 
the  last  moment,  common  friends  conveniently,  and  doubtless 
to  the  great  satisfaction  of  the  contestants,  calmed  the  af 
fair  without  a  real  encounter. 

Duelling  was  the  rage  of  the  hour.40  Lincoln  was  too  sen 
sitive  to  the  good  opinion  of  the  community  to  fly  in  the 
face  of  popular  sentiment.  So  he  violated  the  law  of  the 
State  to  engage  in  a  transaction  unsanctioned  by  his  judg 
ment,  not  ready  to  defy  the  general  taste  in  a  matter  where 
the  standard  was  still  that  of  the  pioneer  community.  It  is 
not  therefore  surprising  that  in  later  years,  Lincoln  was 
abashed  by  his  part  in  this  fight.  This  was  his  last  per 
sonal  quarrel,  and  marks  a  decisive  epoch  in  his  career.41 
Thereafter,  he  became  a  champion  of  principles  and  was  pre 
pared  to  play  a  part  in  debates  of  world-wide  moment. 

A  dramatic  contest  ran  through  this  session  on  the  part 
of  the  banks  to  obtain  further  condonation  in  the  suspension 
of  specie  payments.  The  Whigs  were  friendly,  calling  them, 
"the  institutions  of  the  country,"  branding  opposition  un 
patriotic.  The  Democrats,  however,  were  on  the  whole  hos 
tile  to  the  banks.  They  called  them  "rag  barons,  rags, 
printed  lies,  bank  vassals,  ragocracy,  and  the  'British-bought 
bank,  bluelight,  Federal,  Whig  party.'  "  42 

The  contest  was  rendered  closer  by  "opportune  loans  to 
Democrats."  The  fight  grew  in  intensity  as  if  the  wealth, 
the  industry  and  the  very  happiness  of  the  people  were  at 
stake.  The  Democrats,  in  order  to  kill  the  banks,  were  bent 
on  a  sine  die  adjournment  of  the  special  term.  The  Whigs 
in  their  zeal  to  save  them  invented  what  was  a  novel  expedient 

39  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  69.  "Nicolay  &  Hay,  1,  211, 

40  Ibid.,  71,  «Lamon,  217. 


106  Lincoln  the  Politician 

at  that  time  in  parliamentary  tactics.  The  Whigs  absented 
themselves  to  prevent  a  quorum,  leaving  Lincoln  and  Gilles- 
pie  to  call  the  ayes  and  noes.  The  Democrats  discovered  the 
game,  and  the  sergeant-at-arms  was  sent  out.  There  was 
great  excitement  in  the  House,  which  was  then  held  in  a 
church  at  Springfield.  Soon  several  Whigs  were  caught  and 
brought  in  and  the  plan  was  spoiled.  Then  Lincoln  and  his 
accomplice  determined  to  leave  the  hall.  Going  to  the  door, 
and  finding  it  locked,  they  raised  a  window  and  jumped  out, 
but  not  until  the  Democrats  had  succeeded  in  adjourning. 
Mr.  Gillespie  remarked  that  "Lincoln  always  regretted  that 
he  entered  into  that  arrangement,  as  he  deprecated  every 
thing  that  savored  of  the  revolutionary."  43 

This  incident  discloses  Lincoln  the  politician,  Lincoln  the 
student  of  methods  engaging  in  practices  that  his  judgment 
subsequently  disapproved.  He  was  thoroughly  schooled  in 
securing  results.  The  student  of  Lincoln  should  not  hurry 
over  this  incident,  nor  minimize  its  significance.  He  mingled 
in  common,  sordid,  political  events. 

Though  Lincoln  engaged  freely  in  the  political  machina 
tions  of  his  day,  he  did  not  sanction  corruption.  He  stood 
out  as  a  champion  of  an  untainted  franchise.  He  did  not 
still  his  conscience  with  the  soothing  medicine  that  corrup 
tion  was  the  common  practice.  He  moved  at  this  session 
that  the  part  of  the  Governor's  message  relating  to  fraudu 
lent  voting  be  referred  to  the  Committee  on  elections,  with 
instructions  to  prepare  and  report  a  bill  for  such  an  act  as 
might  afford  the  greatest  possible  protection  of  the  elective 
franchise  against  all  frauds.44 

Bred  in  the  school  of  partisanship,  where  the  doctrine  that 
spoils  is  the  fruit  of  victory,  was  almost  a  creed,  Lincoln 
never  enslaved  himself  by  the  acceptance  of  that  dogma, 
"Lamon,  217.  "Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  4,2. 


Partisan  in  State  and  National  Affairs  107 

either  in  practice  or  theory.  Early  in  life  he  had  reasoned 
out  the  principle  that  public  office  is  a  trust.  He  dared  to 
assert  its  integrity  at  a  time  when  it  met  little  favor.  He 
wrote  in  1840  that  he  was  opposed  to  removal  of  public 
officials  to  make  places  for  friends.45  Still,  the  malevolent 
conduct  of  an  office  holder  stirred  his  resentment.  In  the 
same  letter  he  said  there  was  no  question  as  to  the  propriety 
of  removing  the  postmaster  at  Carlinville,  that  the  latter 
boldly  refused  to  deliver  during  the  canvass  all  documents 
franked  by  Whig  members  of  Congress.46 

By  his  tact  and  service,  Lincoln  stood  well  with  the  party 
leaders,  so  that  in  184*1  he  was  widely  mentioned  as  a  worthy 
candidate  for  Governor.  A  formal  protest  from  his  hand 
and  that  of  his  close  friends  against  such  a  movement  was 
put  in  the  Sangamon  Journal:  "His  talents  and  services  en 
dear  him  to  the  Whig  party ;  but  we  do  not  believe  he  desires 
the  nomination.  He  has  already  made  great  sacrifices  in 
maintaining  his  party  principles,  and  before  his  political 
friends  ask  him  to  make  additional  sacrifices,  the  subject 
should  be  well  considered.  The  office  of  Governor,  which 
would  of  necessity  interfere  with  the  practice  of  his  profes 
sion,  would  poorly  compensate  him  for  the  loss  of  four  of  the 
best  years  of  his  life."  Whether  he  could  have  attained  the 
nomination  is  not  known.  Lincoln  was  not  accustomed  to 
put  aside  political  honors.  It  is  significant  that  the  young 
legislator  readily  availed  himself  of  a  mode  of  self-glorifying 
declination  popular  with  politicians  to  this  day.47 

With  this  session,  Lincoln  concluded  his  duties  as  the  rep 
resentative  of  the  people.  In  1832,  he  entered  Vandalia,  a 
son  of  poverty,  timid  of  his  ability,  ungifted  in  appearance. 
In  eight  years,  he  plowed  his  way  to  the  very  front  as  the 

«  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  43.  "Ibid.,  43-44. 

«  Nicolay  &  Hay,  1,  217-8. 


108  Lincoln  the  Politician 

champion  of  his  associates,  a  skillful  leader  of  his  party. 
Still  it  is  amazing  how  faint  a  trace  Lincoln  left  on  the  his 
tory  of  Illinois,  hewing  out  no  legislative  enactment  endear 
ing  his  memory  to  the  people  of  the  State.  Ford  only  notes 
him  as  a  Congressman  who  in  the  State  Legislature  followed 
the  glitter  of  a  false  finance,  and  a  destructive  plan  of  public 
improvement.  Had  his  career  ended  here,  no  one  would  have 
ventured  to  rescue  his  name  from  oblivion.  One  act  only, 
overtops  the  events  submerged  by  time,  an  event  that  sober 
history  passed  by,  little  knowing  that  it  was  the  one  fact, 
richer  than  all  others,  in  the  annals,  under  its  scrutiny.  For 
in  the  light  of  later  events,  the  protest  of  1837  showed  an 
enkindled  soul  that  in  the  goodness  of  time  thrilled  the  land 
with  a  second  edition  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 


CHAPTER  VII 

RESTLESS    POLITICAL    AMBITION 

termination  of  Lincoln's  legislative  career,  his  mar- 
•••  riage  and  his  increasing  legal  practice  did  not  stay  his 
hunger  for  political  distinction.  Music,  society  or  nature 
did  not  allure  him.  His  range  of  interest  was  limited.  His 
pleasure  was  not  in  his  fame  as  a  counselor.  He  was  impa 
tient  of  the  tiresome  devotion  to  detail  demanded  of  the  law 
yer.  Longing  to  be  a  leader  in  the  world  of  events,  he 
sought  a  wider  field  of  activity  for  the  full  expression  of  his 
personality,  splendidly  realizing  that  his  greatest  service  to 
himself  and  his  fellows  was  in  guiding  and  interpreting  a 
righteous  public  opinion. 

Lamon  has  portrayed  Lincoln's  political  ambition  with 
merciless  vividness,  claiming  that  he  was  never  agitated  by 
any  passion  more  intense  than  his  thirst  for  distinction ;  that 
it  governed  all  his  conduct,  from  the  hour  when  he  aston 
ished  himself  by  his  oratorical  success  in  the  back  settle 
ments  of  Macon  County,  to  the  day  when  the  assassin 
marked  him  as  the  first  hero  of  the  restored  Union;  that  he 
was  ever  ready  to  be  honored,  and  struggled  incessantly  for 
place.1  Politics  was  his  world, — a  world  filled  with  enchant 
ment.  "In  his  office,"  says  Mr.  Herndon,  "he  sat  down,  or 
spilt  himself  on  his  lounge,  read  aloud,  told  stories,  talked 
politics, — never  science,  art,  literature,  railroad  gatherings, 
colleges,  asylums,  hospitals,  commerce,  education,  progress, 
'Lamon,  237. 

109 


110  Lincoln  the  Politician 

nothing  that  interested  the  world  generally  except  politics."  2 
Yet  Lamon  and  Herndon  missed  the  deeper  unity  in  his 
life.  Neither  politics  nor  distinction  was  the  end  with  him. 
They  were  the  paths  leading  to  his  palace,  not  the  palace 
itself.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  love  of  his  kind  tran 
scended  his  love  of  distinction.  At  the  time  when  he  seemed 
lost  in  the  maelstrom  of  partisanship,  as  Burns  in  the  storm 
thought  of  the  "ourie"  cattle,  so  Lincoln  thought  of  those 
hapless  sons  of  misfortune  who  were  biding  the  "bitter 
brattle"  of  slavery.  Thus  in  a  letter  to  his  friend  Speed, 
he  said,  "In  1841  you  and  I  had  together  a  tedious  low- 
water  trip  on  a  steamboat  from  Louisville  to  St.  Louis.  You 
may  remember,  as  I  well  do,  that  from  Louisville  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Ohio  there  were  on  board  ten  or  a  dozen  slaves 
shackled  together  with  irons.  That  sight  was  a  continued 
torment  to  me,  and  I  see  something  like  it  every  time  I 
touch  the  Ohio  or  any  other  slave  border."  8 

The  extent  to  which  he  mingled  in  political  affairs  is  shown 
by  his  activity  at  a  mass  meeting  in  March,  1843,  at  Spring 
field.  He  was  the  master  of  ceremonies.  In  a  careful  state 
ment,  he  uttered  the  cardinal  principles  of  his  party.  He 
was  materially  steeped  in  the  party  spirit  of  his  day.  For  the 
fifth  resolution  recommends  that  a  Whig  candidate  for  Con 
gress  be  run  in  every  district,  regardless  of  the  chances  of 
success.  "We  are  aware,"  it  continued,  "that  it  is  some 
times  a  temporary  gratification,  when  a  friend  cannot  suc 
ceed,  to  be  able  to  choose  between  opponents ;  but  we  believe 
that  that  gratification  is  the  seed  time  which  never  fails  to 
be  followed  by  a  most  abundant  harvest  of  bitterness.  By 
this  policy  we  entangle  ourselves." 

Though  Lincoln,  at  first,  fought  the  convention  system  for 

'Lamon,  482.  4 Ibid.,  76. 

"Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  216. 


Restless  Political  Ambition  111 

the  nomination  of  candidates,  as  undemocratic,  his  conver 
sion  to  its  championship  further  exposes  his  training  in  the 
school  of  practical  politics.  The  statement  declared  that 
the  Whigs  should  not  stop  to  inquire  whether  the  system  was 
just,  but  that  while  their  opponents  used  the  plan  it  was 
madness  in  them  not  to  defend  themselves  with  it.5 

The  conclusion  of  this  address  is  also  a  sure  sign  of  pro 
longed  association  with  the  hue  and  cry  of  party  spirit:  It 
stated  with  assurance  that  the  Whigs  were  always  a  majority 
of  the  nation,  and  that  if  every  Whig  would  act  as  though 
he  knew  the  result  to  depend  upon  his  action,  that  surely  a 
Whig  would  be  elected  President  of  the  United  States.6 

Political  office  being  the  reward  of  party  service,  Lincoln 
was  a  zealous  worker  in  the  ranks.  He  was  ever  at  the  call 
of  the  party  managers  for  speeches  or  other  personal  work. 
They  could  not  charge  him  with  being  a  laggard  in  the  day 
of  defeat.  He  did  not  wait  for  waves  of  advancement.  He 
was  not  in  accord  with  the  policy  that  the  office  should  seek 
the  man.  He  slowly  toiled  his  way  to  the  eminence  he 
reached.  While  Lincoln  was  in  Congress,  Herndon  wrote 
to  him  complaining  of  his  sluggard  progress  in  politics,  and 
carped  at  the  old  men  for  usurping  all  the  places  of  power 
and  profit.  In  an  intimate  reply  to  his  associate,  we  find 
the  plain  paths  he  trod:  "You  must  not  wait  to  be  brought 
forward  by  the  older  men.  For  instance,  do  you  suppose  that 
I  should  ever  have  got  into  notice  if  I  had  waited  to  be  hunted 
up  and  pushed  forward  by  older  men?  You  young  men  get 
together  and  form  a  'Rough  and  Ready  Club,'  and  have  reg 
ular  meetings  and  speeches.  Take  in  everybody  you  can  get. 
Harrison  Grimsley,  L.  A.  Enos,  Lee  Kimball,  and  C.  W.  Ma- 
theny  would  do  to  begin  the  thing;  but  as  you  go  along 
gather  up  all  the  shrewd,  wild  boys  about  town,  whether 

•Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  76.  *  Ibid.,  79. 


Lincoln  the  Politician 

just  of  age  or  a  little  under  age, — Chris.  Logan,  Reddick 
Ridgely,  Lewis  Swizler,  and  hundreds  such.  Let  every  one 
play  the  part  he  can  play  best, — some  speak,  some  sing,  and 
all  'holler.'  Your  meetings  will  be  of  evenings;  the  older 
men  and  the  women  will  go  to  hear  you;  so  that  it  will  not 
only  contribute  to  the  election  of  'Old  Zach,'  but  will  be  an 
interesting  pastime,  and  improving  to  the  intellectual  facul 
ties  of  all  engaged.  Don't  fail  to  do  this."  7 

Lincoln  no  sooner  completed  his  long  term  in  the  Legisla 
ture  than  he  cast  his  eye  on  a  seat  in  Congress.  "Now,  if 
you  should  hear"  he  wrote  a  friend,  "any  one  say  that  Lin 
coln  don't  want  to  go  to  Congress,  I  wish  you,  as  a  personal 
friend  of  mine,  would  tell  him  you  have  reason  to  believe  he 
is  mistaken.  The  truth  is  I  would  like  to  go  very  much. 
Still,  circumstances  may  happen  which  may  prevent  my  being 
a  candidate.  If  there  are  any  who  be  my  friends  in  such  an 
enterprise,  what  I  now  want  is  that  they  shall  not  throw  me 
away  just  yet."  8 

Lincoln's  race  for  the  nomination  was  full  of  excitement. 
When  he  began  his  canvass,  he  was  a  member  of  the  firm  of 
Logan  and  Lincoln.  Besides  Hardin,  Baker  and  Lincoln, 
Logan  also  was  a  candidate.  Logan  deemed  his  long  ser 
vice  as  entitling  him  to  the  honor,  while  Lincoln  regarded  his 
legislative  career  as  his  claim  to  distinction.  It  is  not  amaz 
ing  that  concord  did  not  dwell  in  this  home  of  political 
rivalry.  Herndon  says  he  was  not,  therefore,  surprised  to 
have  Lincoln  rush  into  his  quarters  and  with  more  or  less 
agitation  tell  him  that  he  had  determined  to  sever  the  part 
nership  with  Logan ;  and  Herndon  states  that  although 
painfully  aware  of  his  want  of  ability  and  experience,  when 
Lincoln  remarked  in  his  earnest,  honest  way,  "Billy,  I  can 
trust  you  if  you  can  trust  me,"  he  felt  relieved  and  accepted 

'Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  131-132.      8 Herndon,  1,  253. 


Restless  Political  Ambition  113 

the  generous  proposal  of  legal  partnership.9 

The  most  dramatic  incident  in  this  fight  was  the  con 
test  between  Baker  and  Lincoln.  It  was  a  battle  between 
brilliancy  and  solidity.  No  man  of  his  time  surpassed  Baker 
in  dashing  eloquence.  Handsome,  of  winning  personality,  he 
was  the  idol  of  the  young  men  of  Springfield.  Lincoln  was 
no  longer,  as  at  New  Salem,  the  leader  of  the  gang.  His 
alliance  with  aristocratic  Mary  Todd,  the  demands  of  his 
profession  and  a  settled  life  largely  sundered  the  partner 
ship.  It  was  a  natural,  not  a  sudden,  intentional  separation. 
Strange  rumors  were  afloat  that  he  was  no  more  a  friend 
to  the  lowly  and  that  he  was  seeking  new  ways.  Not  free  to 
mingle  with  the  people,  he  could  not  readily  combat  the  sus 
picion.  And  they  were  ever  demanding  a  perfect  embodi 
ment  of  their  conception  of  heroism.  They  found  it  fully 
in  one  of  the  most  dramatic  heroes  and  charming  personali 
ties  in  the  panorama  of  American  politics — Edward  D. 
Baker. 

When  the  friends  of  Baker  first  put  forth  the  charge  that 
Lincoln  belonged  to  a  proud  family,  he  was  amused.  He  met 
it  with  a  laughing  remark:  "That  sounds  strange  to  me,  for 
I  do  not  remember  of  but  one  who  ever  came  to  see  me,  and 
while  he  was  in  town  he  was  accused  of  stealing  a  Jew's 
harp."  10  But  as  the  campaign  developed  in  intensity,  and 
he  realized  that  the  shameless  report  was  scattered  to  his 
harm,  he  thought  bitterly  of  the  false  charge.  The  injustice 
of  the  accusation  and  his  incapacity  to  meet  it,  quite  crushed 
him.  He  could  meet  an  open  foe  with  a  giant's  strength, 
but  the  gnat  of  malignant  rumor  defied  him.  Thus  the 
humblest  politician  that  ever  trod  the  soil  of  the  Western 
continent  was  not  saved  from  the  charge  of  being  "puffed 
up,"  and  the  leader  of  the  lowly  traveled  in  the  domain  of 

• Herndon,  1,  Q52.  "Ibid.,  255. 


Lincoln  the  Politician 

bitter  experience.     The  enthusiasm  of  the  young  men  car 
ried  the  day  for  Baker  in  Sangamon  County. 

After  his  defeat,  Lincoln  took  his  old  friend  Jim  Matheny 
far  into  the  woods.  He  unburdened  himself,  protesting  that 
he  was  anything  but  aristocratic  and  proud.  "Why,  Jim," 
he  said,  "I  am  now  and  always  shall  be  the  same  Abe  Lincoln 
I  was  when  you  first  saw  me."  1X 

The  story  of  the  defeat  as  told  by  Lincoln  to  Speed,  shows 
much  of  his  political  training:  "Baker  beat  me,  and  got  the 
delegation  instructed  to  go  for  him.  The  meeting,  in  spite 
of  my  attempt  to  decline  it,  appointed  me  one  of  the  dele 
gates;  so  that  in  getting  Baker  the  nomination  I  shall  be 
fixed  a  good  deal  like  a  fellow  who  is  made  a  groomsman 
to  a  man  who  has  cut  him  out  and  is  marrying  his  own  dear 
<galV  12 

Yet,  Lincoln  did  not  at  once  reconcile  himself  to  the  selec 
tion  of  Baker.  A  letter  from  his  friends  in  Menard  County 
led  him  still  to  contemplate  possibilities  and  induced  him  to 
skirmish  on  the  frontier  of  his  duty  to  the  choice  of  Sanga 
mon  County.  He  wrote  to  a  supporter:  "You  say  you  shall 
instruct  your  delegates  for  me  unless  I  object.  I  certainly 
shall  not  object.  That  would  be  too  pleasant  a  compliment 
for  me  to  tread  in  the  dust.  And  besides  if  anything  should 
happen  (which,  however,  is  not  probable)  by  which  Baker 
should  be  thrown  out  of  the  fight,  I  would  be  at  liberty  to 
accept  the  nomination  if  I  could  get  it."  13 

In  this  same  letter,  he  gave  an  account  of  the  factors  that 
conspired  to  his  defeat,  saying  that  it  would  astonish  the 
older  citizens  to  learn  that  he  (uneducated,  penniless  boy, 
working  on  a  flatboat  at  $10.00  per  month)  had  been  put 
down  there  as  a  candidate  of  pride  and  wealth;  that  there 

11  Lamon,  273.  13  Ibid.,  80. 

"Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  79. 


Restless  Political  Ambition  115 

was,  too,  the  strangest  combination  of  church  influence 
against  him;  that  Baker  was  a  Campbellite,  and  with  few 
exceptions  got  all  that  church;  that  his  wife  had  some  rela 
tions  in  the  Presbyterian  churches,  and  some  with  the  Epis 
copal  churches,  and  wherever  it  would  tell,  he  was  set  down 
as  either  one  or  the  other,  while  it  was  everywhere  contended 
that  no  Christian  ought  to  go  for  him,  because  he  belonged  to 
no  church,  was  suspected  of  being  a  deist,  and  had  talked 
about  fighting  a  duel.14  In  the  long  letter  Lincoln  did  not 
even  mention  the  personal  strength  and  popularity  of  his 
opponent,  or  suggest  that  Baker  was  the  victor  by  his  own 
merit. 

Though  Lincoln  returned  to  the  practice  of  his  profession 
with  increased  devotion,  he  kept  his  interest  in  local  and 
national  events.  He  still  remained  a  student  of  the  whims 
of  individual  voters  as  well  as  a  keen  observer  of  political 
affairs  of  general  moment.  A  letter  to  Hardin  at  Wash 
ington  illustrates  this :  "Knowing  that  you  have  correspond 
ents  enough,  I  have  forborne  to  trouble  you  heretofore;  and 
I  now  only  do  so,  to  get  you  to  set  a  matter  right  which  has 
got  wrong  with  one  of  our  best  friends.  It  is  old  Uncle 
Thomas  Campbell  of  Spring  Creek — (Berlin,  P.  O.).  He  has 
received  several  documents  from  you,  and  he  says  that  they 
are  old  newspapers  and  documents,  having  no  sort  of  interest 
in  them.  He  is,  therefore,  getting  a  strong  impression  that 
you  treat  him  with  disrespect.  This,  I  know,  is  a  mistaken 
impression;  and  you  must  correct  it.  The  way,  I  leave  to 
yourself.  Robert  W.  Canfield  says  that  he  would  like  to 
have  a  document  or  two  from  you. 

"The  Locos  here  are  in  considerable  trouble  about  Van 
Buren's  letter  on  Texas,  and  the  Virginia  electors.  They  are 
growing  sick  of  the  Tariff  question;  and  consequently  are 

"Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  80. 


116  Lincoln  the  Politician 

much  confounded  at  V.  B.'s  cutting  them  off  from  the  new 
Texas  question.  Nearly  half  the  leaders  swear  they  won't 
stand  it."  15 

As  early  as  1837,  Webster  publicly  declared  that  it  could 
not  be  disguised  that  a  desire,  or  an  intention,  was  already 
manifested  to  annex  Texas  to  the  United  States.16  Under 
the  nursing  of  Tyler  and  Calhoun,  a  treaty  of  annexation 
was  concluded  and  the  scheme  almost  consummated.  The 
Senate,  in  1844,  alone  stood  in  the  way.  The  proposal  of 
annexation  overtopped  all  other  issues  in  the  campaign  of 
that  year.  It  proved  at  the  time  a  dominating  incident  and 
left  abundant  traces  on  American  history.  Van  Buren,  rising 
to  the  solitary  eminence  of  statesmanship,  uttered  a  firm 
and  subdued  protest  against  the  southern  policy.  But  the 
edict  of  the  Calhoun  democracy,  that  Texas  must  be  an 
nexed  was  remorseless,  and  their  old  friend,  Martin  Van 
Buren,  in  the  homely  language  of  Lincoln,  was  "turned  out 
to  root."  17  It  proved  the  beginning  of  the  cleft  on  the 
slavery  question  that  in  less  than  twenty  years  hopelessly 
divided  the  successors  of  the  triumphant  Jackson  party. 

In  June,  1844,  Clay  fairly  represented  the  views  of  the 
Whigs  declaring  that  the  annexation  of  Texas,  at  this  time, 
without  the  consent  of  Mexico,  as  a  measure  compromising 
the  National  character,  involving  war  with  Mexico,  probably 
with  other  foreign  powers,  dangerous  to  the  integrity  of  the 
Union,  inexpedient  in  the  present  financial  condition  of  the 
country,  was  not  called  for  by  any  general  expression  of 
public  opinion.18  Later  coquetting  with  southern  sympa 
thies  on  this  issue,  he  modified  his  opposition  to  the  present 
annexation  of  Texas  with  the  fatal  statement  that  he  had  no 
hesitation  in  saying  that,  far  from  having  any  personal  ob- 

15  Tarbell,  2,  290.  17  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  140. 

"Greeley,  1,  152.  "Greeley,  1,  164. 


Restless  Political  Ambition  117 

jection  to  the  annexation  of  Texas,  lie  should  be  glad  to  see 
it — without  dishonor,  without  war,  with  the  common  consent 
of  the  Union  and  upon  just  and  fair  terms.19  This  seeming 
retreat,  despite  all  explanation,  insured  his  defeat.  The  di 
version  gained  him  no  strength  in  the  South  and  alienated 
needed  support  in  the  North. 

The  Southern  States  openly  put  forth  their  reasons  for 
annexation.  To  keep  pace  with  the  northern  growth  they 
needed  new  States,  otherwise  they  saw  the  doom  of  the  insti 
tution  that  they  deemed  the  very  palladium  of  their  pros 
perity  and  happiness.  The  unresting  Calhoun  finally  tri 
umphed  in  awakening  dormant  fears  and  sentiments.20 

The  main  contention  in  the  famous  letter  of  Jackson  was 
better  calculated,  than  this  southern  claim,  to  appeal  to  the 
northern  democracy,  and  was  more  in  harmony  with  the 
substantial  trend  of  the  national  destiny.  "I  do  not  hesitate 
to  say  that  the  welfare  and  happiness  of  our  Union  require 
that  it  should  be  accepted.  If,  in  a  military  point  of  view 
alone,  the  question  be  examined,  it  will  be  found  to  be  most 
important  to  the  United  States  to  be  in  possession  of  the 
territory. 

"Great  Britain  has  already  made  treaties  with  Texas; 
and  we  know  that  far-seeing  nation  never  omits  a 
circumstance,  in  her  extensive  intercourse  with  the  world, 
which  can  be  turned  to  account  in  increasing  her  military 
resources.  May  she  not  enter  into  an  alliance  with 
Texas?"21 

While  the  Texan  issue  stirred  the  Garrisonian  Abolition 
ists,  it  did  not  allay  their  hostility  to  organized  political 
action,  they  declared  that  they  would  open  no  road  to  politi 
cal  preferment;  that  the  strength  of  their  cause  was  in  the 
humble,  fervent  prayer  of  the  righteous  man,  which  availeth 
19  Greeley,  1,  166.  "Ibid.,  158.  *  Ibid. 


118  Lincoln  the  Politician 

much,  and  the  blessing  of  that  God  who  had  chosen  the 
weak  things  of  the  world  to  confound  the  mighty;  that  it 
was  to  be  expected  that  some  political  wolves  would  put  on 
the  clothing  of  Abolitionism,  and  seek  to  elevate  themselves 
and  manage  the  anti-slavery  organization  for  their  own  pur 
poses.*  The  political  Abolitionists,  however,  named  James 
G.  Birney  for  President. 

There  was  then,  already,  a  complexity  of  opinion  on  the 
slavery  question  that  shadowed  forth  the  future  alignment  of 
parties.  While  many  were  confounded  by  wavering  lights, 
Lincoln  picked  his  way  with  sure  footed  precision  through 
maze  and  pitfall.  His  unprejudiced  mind  wondered  at  the 
conduct  of  the  "Liberty  men"  that  deprecating  the  annexa 
tion  of  Texas,  deliberately  promoted  its  success  by  indirec 
tion.  Their  application  of  the  proposition  "we  are  not  to 
do  evil  that  good  may  come  of  it"  he  reduced  to  plain  sophis 
try,  saying  that  if  by  their  votes  they  could  have  prevented 
the  extension  of  slavery,  it  would  have  been  good,  and  not 
evil,  so  to  have  used  their  votes,  even  though  it  involved  the 
casting  of  them  for  a  slaveholder,  and  he  earnestly  asked  if 
the  fruit  of  electing  Clay  would  have  been  to  prevent  the  ex 
tension  of  slavery,  could  the  act  of  electing  him  have  been 
evil?  22  He  held  that  it  was  a  paramount  duty  of  the  free 
States  to  let  the  slavery  of  the  other  States  alone,  while  it 
was  equally  clear  that  they  should  never  knowingly  lend 
themselves,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  prevent  slavery  from 
dying  a  natural  death — to  find  new  places  for  it  to  live  in, 
when  it  could  no  longer  exist  in  the  old.23  Here,  is  clearly 
announced  the  seeming  paradox  that,  though  slavery  was  an 
evil,  there  still  remained  the  duty  to  let  it  alone  in  the  States 
where  it  then  existed.  This  further  piles  up  evidence  that 
his  views  suffered  little  change  with  years. 

*  Johnson,  307.  "Tarbell,  2,  293.          "Ibid.,  293-294. 


Restless  Political  Ambition  119 

Lincoln  boldly  participated  in  the  campaign  of  1844 ;  Clay 
was  the  political  hero  of  his  youth  and  manhood  as  Wash 
ington  was  of  his  boyhood.  Like  many  other  Whigs,  he,  too, 
was  enthralled  by  the  magic  of  the  far  famed  eloquence  of 
the  name,  that,  in  the  words  of  the  orator  who  nominated 
Clay,  expressed  more  enthusiasm,  that  it  had  in  it  more  elo 
quence  than  the  names  of  Chatham,  Burke,  Patrick  Henry, 
and,  more  than  any  other  and  all  other  names  together.24 

During  the  campaign,  Lincoln  encountered  his  former  em 
ployer,  John  Calhoun,  and  other  old  antagonists.  It  is  said 
that  Calhoun  came  nearer  whipping  Lincoln  in  debate  than 
Douglas  did.25  Nothing  survives  of  those  speeches.  Still, 
his  enthusiasm  and  skill  in  the  controversies  of  the  campaign 
awakened  a  demand  for  his  services  throughout  the  State. 
His  name  as  an  orator  even  invaded  Indiana.  In  the  closing 
hours  of  the  contest  his  voice  was  heard  on  the  soil  that  he 
hastened  from  some  fifteen  years  before  as  an  adventurer. 
While  speaking  at  Gentryville,  his  old  friend  Nat  Grigsby 
entered  the  room.  Lincoln  stopped  and  crying  out  "There's 
Nat,"  scrambled  through  the  crowd  to  his  modest  associate 
of  former  days.  After  greeting  him  warmly,  he  returned  to 
the  platform.  When  the  speech  was  done,  he  passed  the  rest 
of  the  evening  with  Nat.  Then  Lincoln  insisted  that  they 
should  sleep  together;  and  long  into  the  night,  they  talked 
over  old  times  and  were  once  more  Abe  and  Nat.26 

The  appearance  of  Clay's  August  letter  stirred  the  politi 
cal  Abolitionists  to  fateful  activity.  They  insisted  that  his 
antagonism  to  annexation,  not  being  founded  on  anti-slavery 
convictions,  was  of  no  account.27  They  polled  enough  votes 
to  elect  pro-slavery  Polk.  Mingled  with  the  ribaldry,  the 
din  and  howl  of  abandoned  politicians  over  the  election  of 

"Nicolay  &  Hay,  1,  225.  M  Ibid.,  274-5. 

28  Lamon,  274.  *  Greeley,  1,  167. 


120  Lincoln  the  Politician 

Polk,  were  the  exultant  shouts  of  the  sober  and  respectable 
men  of  the  Liberty  Party.  They  celebrated  in  unison  the 
victory  they  both  promoted. 

The  solemn  selection  of  James  K.  Polk  instead  of  Henry 
Clay  as  President,  was  a  discordant  incident  that  the  Whig 
patriot  did  not  linger  over  willingly.  That  a  pigmy  should 
sit  in  the  seat  of  the  statesman,  that  a  puppet  should  stand 
in  the  place  of  the  nature-dowered  son  of  American  policies, 
— this  opinion  made  Clay's  followers  doubt  the  wisdom  of 
republican  government.  To  them  this  defeat  was  more  than 
a  partisan  grief,  it  was  a  national  loss.  From  loyal  support 
ers  hurried  a  grand  tribute  to  their  uncrowned  champion  in 
his  retreat:  "We  will  remember  you,  Henry  Clay,  while  the 
memory  of  the  glorious  or  the  sense  of  the  good  remains  in 
us,  with  a  grateful  and  admiring  affection  which  shall 
strengthen  with  our  strength  and  shall  not  decline  with  our 
decline.  We  will  remember  you  in  all  our  future  trials  and 
reverses  as  him  whose  name  honored  defeat  and  gave  it  a 
glory  which  victory  could  not  have  brought.  We  will  re 
member  you  when  patriotic  hope  rallies  again  to  successful 
contest  with  the  agencies  of  corruption  and  ruin;  for  we 
will  never  know  a  triumph  which  you  do  not  share  in  life, 
whose  glory  does  not  accrue  to  you  in  death."  28 
28Nicolay  &  Hay,  1,  236. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

LINCOLN    OPPOSES    THE    INCEPTION    OF    THE    MEXICAN    WAR    IN 

CONGRESS 

T  T  is  quite  generally  believed  in  Sangamon  County  that  a 
•*•  bargain  was  entered  into  between  Baker,  Lincoln,  Logan 
and  Hardin  whereby  the  "four  should  'rotate'  in  Congress 
until  each  had  had  a  term."  *  There  is  evidence  in  the  writ 
ings  of  Lincoln  that  there  was  some  kind  of  an  understand 
ing  between  Baker,  Lincoln  and  Logan.  There  is  a  startling 
story  as  to  the  character  of  the  arrangement.  A  delegate 
to  the  Pekin  Convention  of  1843  states,  that  he  was  asked 
by  Lincoln  immediately  after  the  nomination  of  Hardin,  if 
he  would  favor  a  resolution  recommending  Baker  for  the 
next  term.  On  being  answered  in  the  affirmative  Lincoln 
told  the  delegate  to  prepare  the  resolution,  and  he  would 
support  it.  It  created  a  profound  sensation,  especially 
among  the  friends  of  Hardin.  After  angry  discussion,  the 
resolution  passed  by  a  bare  majority.2  This  incident  illus 
trates  the  sagacious  policy  of  Lincoln  in  furthering  his  rest 
less  political  ambition.  He  publicly  declined  to  contest  the 
nomination  of  Baker  in  1844.  Pursuant  to  a  widespread 
expectation,  Baker  did  not  stand  in  the  way  of  Lincoln  two 
years  later. 

Lincoln  kept  close  to  those  who  moulded  public  opinion, — 
the  men  of  the  press.    Then  the  personality  of  an  editor  was 
a  weighty  factor  in  the  decision  of  political  contests.     He 
1  Lamon,  275.  a  Tarbell,  195-6. 

121 


Lincoln  the  Politician 

wrote  to  an  editor  and  supporter  in  1846  that  as  the  paper 
at  Pekin  had  nominated  Hardin  for  governor  and  the  Alton 
paper  indirectly  nominated  him  for  Congress,  it  would  give 
Hardin  a  great  start,  and  perhaps  use  him  up,  if  the  Whig 
papers  of  the  district  should  nominate  Hardin  for  Congress, 
and  that  he  wished  that  the  editor  would  let  nothing  appear 
in  his  paper  which  might  operate  against  him.3 

To  this,  he  received  a  reply  that  this  supporter  had,  in 
fact,  nominated  Hardin  for  governor.  The  tactful  response 
deserves  attention :  "Let  me  assure  you  that  if  there  is  any 
thing  in  my  letter  indicating  an  opinion  that  the  nomination 
for  governor,  which  I  supposed  to  have  been  made  in  the 
Pekin  paper,  was  operating  or  could  operate  against  me, 
such  was  not  my  meaning.  Now  that  I  know  that  nomination 
was  made  by  you,  I  say  that  it  may  do  me  good,  while  I  do 
not  see  that  it  can  do  me  harm.  But,  while  the  subject  is  in 
agitation,  should  any  of  the  papers  in  the  district  nominate 
the  same  man  for  Congress,  that  would  do  me  harm ;  and  it 
was  that  which  I  wished  to  guard  against.  Let  me  assure 
you  that  I  do  not  for  a  moment  suppose  that  what  you  have 
done  is  ill-judged,  or  that  anything  that  you  shall  do  will 
be."4 

"I  should  be  pleased,"  he  wrote  another  friend,  "if  I  could 
concur  with  you  in  the  hope  that  my  name  would  be  the  only 
one  presented  to  the  convention;  but  I  cannot.  Hardin 
is  a  man  of  desperate  energy  and  perseverance,  and  one  that 
never  backs  out ;  and  I  fear,  to  think  otherwise  is  to  be  de 
ceived  in  the  character  of  our  adversary.  I  would  rejoice 
to  be  spared  the  labor  of  a  contest;  but  'being  in',  I  shall 
go  it  thoroughly,  and  to  the  bottom."  He  then  admonished 
his  friend  not  to  relax  any  of  his  vigilance.5 

3  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  82,  *  Ibid.,  84, 

.,  83, 


Lincoln  Opposes  Inception  of  Mexican  War 

He  was  sensitive  to  the  shifting  changes  of  the  campaign. 
"Nathan  Dresser  is  here,"  he  wrote  a  friend,  "and  speaks  as 
though  the  contest  between  Hardin  and  me  is  to  be  doubt 
ful  in  Menard  County. — I  know  he  is  candid  and  this  alarms 
me  some — I  asked  him  to  tell  me  the  names  of  the  men  that 
were  going  strong  for  Hardin ;  he  said  Morris  was  about  as 
strong  as  any — Now,  tell  me,  is  Morris  going  it  openly? 
You  remember  you  wrote  me,  that  he  would  be  neutral. 
Nathan  also  said  that  some  man  he  could  not  remember  had 
said  lately  that  Menard  County  was  going  to  decide  the 
contest  and  that  that  made  the  contest  very  doubtful.  Do 
you  know  who  that  was? 

"Don't  fail  to  write  me  instantly  on  receiving  telling  me  all 
—particularly  the  names  of  those  who  are  going  strong 
against  me."6 

The  splendid  generalship  of  Lincoln,  his  telling  blows 
gradually  disposed  of  the  gallant  Hardin,  who  gracefully 
declined  to  be  longer  considered  as  a  candidate.  Through  the 
inspiration  of  Lincoln,  with  equal  gallantry,  there  promptly 
appeared  in  the  leading  Whig  journal,  a  statement  superbly 
designed  to  soothe  the  dignity  of  his  late  antagonist :  "We 
have  had,  and  now  have,  no  doubt  that  he  (Hardin)  has  been, 
and  now  is,  a  great  favorite  with  the  Whigs  of  the  district. 
He  states,  in  substance,  that  there  was  never  any  under 
standing  on  his  part  that  his  name  was  not  to  be  presented 
in  the  canvasses  of  1844  and  1846.  This,  we  believe,  is 
strictly  true.  Still,  the  doings  of  the  Pekin  Convention  did 
seem  to  point  that  way ;  and  the  general's  voluntary  declina 
tion  as  to  the  canvass  of  1844  was  by  many  construed  into 
an  acquiescence  on  his  part.  These  things  had  led  many 
of  his  most  devoted  friends  to  not  expect  him  to  be  a  candi 
date  at  this  time.  Add  to  this  the  relation  that  Mr.  Lincoln 
"Tarbell,  1,  204. 


Lincoln  the  Politician 

bears,  and  has  borne,  to  the  party,  and  it  is  not  strange 
that  many  of  those  who  are  as  strongly  devoted  to  Gen.  Har- 
din  as  they  are  to  Mr.  Lincoln  should  prefer  the  latter  at 
this  time.  We  do  not  entertain  a  doubt,  that,  if  we  could 
reverse  the  positions  of  the  two  men,  that  a  very  large  por 
tion  of  those  who  now  have  supported  Mr.  Lincoln  most 
warmly  would  have  supported  Gen.  Hardin  quite  as 
warmly."  7 

He  was  a  thorough  politician.  He  attended  to  details 
himself.  Like  a  general  on  the  battlefield,  he  kept  his  reserve 
forces  well  in  hand.  He  would  rather  minimize  his  own 
strength  than  mistake  the  power  of  opposing  forces.  He 
never  lost  a  victory  through  misplaced  confidence.  Though 
he  looked  darkly  at  a  contest,  this  rather  increased  than 
abated  his  activity.  From  policy  as  well  as  inclination  he 
did  not  engage  in  the  crimination  of  his  adversaries.  He 
had  a  marvelous  capacity  of  personally  commanding  the  con 
duct  of  men. 

Out  of  their  ranks,  the  Democrats  called  the  famed 
preacher — Peter  Cartwright,  as  their  standard  bearer  in  this 
Congressional  contest.  Until  he  was  sixteen  years  old,  he 
was  a  slave  to  the  common  vices  of  his  day.  His  dramatic 
conversion  during  the  revival  of  1801  preluded  the  marvelous 
career  of  a  man  who  unflinchingly,  for  sixty  years,  "breasted 
the  storm  and  suffered  the  hardships"  of  his  calling  in  forest 
and  prairie.  His  heroic  treatment  of  Jackson  shows  the 
man.  "Just  then,"  Cartwright  says,  "I  felt  some  one  pull 
my  coat  in  the  stand,  and  turning  my  head,  my  fastidious 
preacher,  whispering  a  little  loud,  said:  'General  Jackson 
has  come  in:  General  Jackson  has  come  in.'  I  felt  a  flash 
of  indignation  run  all  over  me  like  an  electric  shock  and 
facing  about  to  my  congregation,  and  purposely  speaking 
7Lamon,  276-7. 


Lincoln  Opposes  Inception  of  Mexican  War 

out  audibly,  I  said,  Who  is  General  Jackson?  If  he  don't 
get  his  soul  converted,  God  will  damn  him  as  quick  as  he 
would  a  Guinea  negro !'  "  8 

The  reasons  that  prompted  Cartwright  to  follow  the  trail 
from  Kentucky  to  Illinois  are  of  historical  importance. 
"First,  I  would  get  entirely  clear  of  the  evil  of  slavery. 
Second,  I  could  raise  my  children  to  work  where  work  was 
not  considered  a  degradation.  Third,  I  believed  I  could  bet 
ter  my  temporal  circumstances,  and  procure  lands  for  my 
children  as  they  grew  up.  And  fourth,  I  could  carry  the 
gospel  to  destitute  souls  that  had,  by  their  removal  into 
some  new  country,  been  deprived  of  the  means  of  grace." 
The  South  poorly  reckoned  the  cost  to  her,  of  the  institution 
that  drove  into  exile  such  master  spirits,  who  enriched  the 
states  of  their  adoption. 

Hating  human  bondage,  still  he  was  no  friend  of  abolition 
ism.  He  declared  that  it  riveted  the  chains  of  slavery  tight 
er;  blocked  the  way  to  reasonable  emancipation;  threw  fire 
brands  into  legislative  halls ;  that  millions  were  expended 
every  year  in  angry  debates  and  that  laws  for  the  good  of 
the  people  were  neglected ;  talents  and  money  thrown  away ; 
that  prejudice,  strife,  and  wrath,  and  every  evil  passion 
stirred  up  until  the  integrity  of  the  Union  was  in  imminent 
danger,  and  that  not  one  poor  slave  was  set  free;  not  one 
dollar  expended  to  colonize  them  and  send  them  home  happy 
and  free;  that  through  unchristian,  excited  prejudices  mobs 
were  fast  becoming  the  order  of  the  day. 

He  maintained  that  after  more  than  twenty  years'  experi 
ence  as  a  traveling  preacher  in  slave  states,  he  was  con 
vinced  that  the  most  successful  way  to  ameliorate  the  condi 
tion  of  the  slaves  and  Christianize  them,  and  finally  secure 
their  freedom  was  to  treat  their  owners  kindly  and  not  to 

8  Cartwright,  192.  *  Ibid.,  245. 


126  Lincoln  the  Politician 

meddle  politically  with  slavery ! 

Patriot  and  prophet  alike,  he  contended  that  abolitionism 
awakened  a  bitter  and  wrathful  spirit  among  the  guardians 
of  the  black  man  that  made  discord  a  partner  in  the  Federal 
Union ;  that  despite  the  legion  moral  evils  of  slavery,  he  had 
never  seen  a  rabid  abolition  or  free  soil  society  that  he 
could  join,  because  they  resorted  to  unjustifiable  agitation, 
confounding  the  innocent  with  the  guilty,  and  that  if  force 
was  resorted  to  the  Union  would  be  dissolved,  a  civil  war 
would  follow,  death  and  carnage  would  ensue,  and  the  only 
free  nation  on  the  earth  would  be  destroyed.10  In  early 
manhood,  Cartwright  cherished  sentiments  that  were  brother 
to  those  Lincoln  later  avowed  at  the  outset  of  his  career. 

In  his  autobiography,  Cartwright  states  that  he  was  twice 
elected  as  a  representative  from  Sangamon  County,  and  he 
found  that  almost  every  measure  had  to  be  carried  by  a  cor 
rupt  bargain  and  sale.11 

For  nearly  half  a  century  he  had  traversed  the  western 
states.  In  nearly  every  Methodist  Church  and  mission  his 
voice  had  summoned  many  to  a  better  life.  His  ministration 
to  the  sick,  his  rides  at  night  over  the  lonely  prairie  to  the 
death  bed  had  endeared  him  to  thousands  of  homes.  He 
had  a  host  of  relations  in  the  Congressional  district.  All 
this  and  his  steady  advocacy  of  Jacksonian  Democracy  con 
stituted  him  no  paltry  antagonist. 

An  active  campaign  ensued.  Lincoln  was  again  subjected 
to  the  harsh  charge  of  religious  infidelity.  The  Whigs, 
taking  up  the  challenge  rallied  to  his  support,  Their  activ 
ity  soon  turned  the  tide.  Lincoln  carried  the  district  by 
1511,  exceeding  the  vote  of  Clay  in  1844  by  nearly  600. 
Sangamon  County  showed  her  loyalty  by  piling  up  a  larger 
majority  than  ever  before  given  to  a  political  favorite.12 

"Cartwright,  129.  "Ibid.,  262.  "Herndon,  1,  259. 


Lincoln  Opposes  Inception  of  Mexican  War 

The  battle  largely  centered  around  the  wisdom  of  a  preacher 
participating  in  politics.  The  pioneer,  who  twenty  years 
before,  had  voted  for  Cartwright  had  now  become  a  citizen 
of  a  settled  community.  After  this  election,  there  was  no 
question  as  to  the  deep  seated  distrust  of  the  average  voter 
permitting  a  church  official  to  be  the  political  representative 
of  the  people. 

A  Democrat  who  loathed  the  canvass  of  Cartwright  still 
deemed  it  a  hard  thing  to  vote  against  his  party.  So  Lin 
coln  told  him  that  he  would  give  him  a  candid  opinion  as 
to  whether  the  vote  was  needed  or  not.  On  the  day  of  elec 
tion,  Lincoln  told  the  Democrat  that  he  had  got  the  preacher, 
— and  didn't  want  his  vote.13  With  this  power  to  foretell 
results,  Lincoln  was  more  richly  dowered  than  any  modern 
leader.  It  was  this  gift  that  enabled  him  to  do  and  speak 
things  that  to  other  men  seemed  ruinous. 

The  victory  of  Polk  in  its  immediate  results  hardly  sur 
prised  friend  or  foe.  His  election  was  the  signal  gun  of  the 
Mexican  war.  Events  were  rapidly  hurried  forward  under 
the  fostering  guidance  of  the  Tyler  administration  and  in 
its  last  gasp  a  messenger  was  dispatched  to  Texas  to  mature 
the  annexation.14  In  weighty  words  Greeley  uttered  the 
protest  of  the  aroused  North,  declaring  that  the  annexation 
of  Texas  challenged  the  regard  of  mankind  and  defied  the 
consciences  of  our  own  citizens ;  that  for  the  first  time  our 
Union  stood  before  the  nations,  not  merely  as  an  upholder, 
but  as  a  zealous,  unscruplous  propagandist  of  human  slav 
ery.15  It  required  no  special  genius  to  provoke  martial 
hostilities  and  anxiety  soon  found  ammunition  to  drive  even 
a  reluctant  opponent  to  the  chance  of  battle.  So  Mexico 
was  almost  dared  into  the  inevitable  combat. 

Until  this  time  the  nation  was  little  stirred  by  political 
18Lamon,  278.  14  Nicolay  &  Hay,  1,  236.  "Greeley,  1,  178. 


128  Lincoln  the  Politician 

unrest  and  strife.  The  battles  in  Congress  that  form  so  vast 
an  asset  of  the  historian,  hardly  disturbed  the  daily  life 
of  the  inventor,  farmer,  mechanic  and  student.  Lincoln 
entered  the  national  Legislature  at  a  momentous  period.  For 
more  than  a  third  of  a  century,  "grim  visaged  war  had 
smoothed  her  wrinkled  front."  The  nation  was  lost  in  in 
dustrial  pursuits,  the  hero  of  the  community  was  the  business 
man.  Patriotism  slumbered,  national  impulses  seemed  dead. 
Then  the  wild  passion  for  war  awakened  the  people  from 
apathy,  they  rejoiced  that  the  spirit  of  the  fathers  was  still 
strong  in  them,  that  they  had  not  forgotten  Bunker  Hill 
and  New  Orleans.  Commerce  for  the  time  forewent  its  emi 
nence,  the  soldier  stepped  to  the  front.  In  a  moment  the 
standard  of  the  nation  shifted  from  the  dollar  to  the  deed. 
Men  did  not  stop  to  debate  the  righteousness  of  the  war  or 
what  the  end  would  be.  They  did  not  reason  as  to  its  effect 
on  the  status  of  slavery.  Emotion,  not  judgment,  was  their 
guide.  They  knew  only  the  pulsation  of  a  subtle  and  sub 
duing  patriotism.  Many  marched  to  the  front,  while  others 
hurried  on  supplies  and  ammunition  to  the  seat  of  trouble. 
The  present  alone  absorbed  their  interest,  busied  every  im 
pulse. 

Lincoln  did  not  willingly  come  into  conflict  with  this  public 
sentiment.  He,  too,  was  moved  by  the  heroism  of  the  hour, 
he  too  saw  with  pride  the  flag  unfurled  and  heard  the  throb 
bing  drum.  When  Hardin  and  Baker  and  Shields  hastened 
from  Springfield  for  the  field  of  glory  and  danger,  he  was 
one  of  the  speakers  at  the  parting  public  meeting.  The 
Congressman-elect  urged  a  sturdy,  vigorous  prosecution  of 
hostilities,  admonished  all  to  permit  no  shame  to  the  govern 
ment  and  to  stand  by  the  flag  till  peace  came  with  honor.16 
This  was  not  a  reluctant  politic  approbation,  as  Lamon  inti- 

"Herndon,  1,  260. 


Lincoln  Opposes  Inception  of  Mexican  War         129 

mates,17  but  a  benediction  upon  the  cause  of  his  country 
that  came  deep  from  the  heart. 

The  attitude  of  Lincoln  toward  the  annexation  of  Texas 
is  of  importance,  not  alone  for  its  own  intrinsic  interest  but 
as  illustrating  the  opinion  of  thousands  of  sober,  patriotic 
citizens  throughout  the  land.  These  had  no  kinship  with 
the  radicals  who  regarded  the  conduct  of  the  war,  as  well 
as  its  inception,  with  bitter  hostility;  who  feared  the  visita 
tion  of  Divine  Power  upon  a  conflict  conceived  in  aggression. 
They  were  not  akin  to  the  Democrats  who  looked  neither  to 
the  right  nor  left  but  marched  over  cherished  principles  of 
the  Republic  for  the  sake  of  extending  the  territory  and  en 
larging  the  activity  of  a  sectional  institution. 

Lincoln  entered  Congress  with  no  thought  of  opposition 
to  any  phase  of  the  war.  Like  Grant,  he  doubtless  knew  that 
the  man  who  criticized  a  war  in  which  his  nation  is  engaged, 
no  matter  whether  right  or  wrong,  occupies  no  enviable 
place  in  life  or  history,  and  that  he  might  better  advocate 
"war,  pestilence  and  famine,"  than  to  act  as  an  obstruc 
tionist  to  a  war  already  begun.18 

The  President  and  his  advisors  would  not  allow  the  Whigs 
to  vote  alone  for  supplies.  They  sought  to  interpolate  reso 
lutions  expressing  the  original  justice  of  the  war.  Lincoln's 
interesting  commentary  on  this  uncalled  for  procedure  is 
worth  quoting.  "Upon  these  resolutions  when  they  shall  be 
put  on  their  passage  I  shall  be  compelled  to  vote ;  so  that 
I  cannot  be  silent  if  I  would.  Seeing  this,  I  went  about 
preparing  myself  to  give  the  vote  understandingly  when  it 
should  come.  I  carefully  examined  the  President's  message, 
to  ascertain  what  he  himself  had  said  and  proved  upon  the 
point.  The  result  of  this  examination  was  to  make  the 
impression  that,  taking  for  true  all  the  President  states  as 
17  Lamon,  281.  18  Grant,  45. 


130  Lincoln  the  Politician 

facts,  he  falls  far  short  of  proving  his  justification;  and 
that  the  President  would  have  gone  farther  with  his  proof  if 
it  had  not  been  for  the  small  matter  that  the  truth  would 
not  permit  him.  Under  the  impression  thus  made  I  gave  the 
vote  before  mentioned."  19 

The  issue  once  made,  Lincoln  and  other  Whigs  did  not 
hesitate;  he  did  not  even  hide  in  silence.  He  took  up  the 
challenge  of  the  President  that  war  existed  by  the  act  of 
Mexico.  He  followed  with  probing  resolutions,  with  a  series 
of  penetrating  questions  that  precluded  quibbling.  The  first 
one  well  illustrates  the  series. 

"RESOLVED,  By  the  House  of  Representatives,  that  the 
President  of  the  United  States  be  respectfully  requested  to 
inform  the  House — 

"First,  whether  the  spot  on  which  the  blood  of  our  citizens 
was  shed,  as  in  his  message  declared,  was  or  was  not  within 
the  territory  of  Spain,  at  least  after  the  treaty  of  1819 
until  the  Mexican  revolution." 

The  President  never  heeded  them,  nor  does  it  appear  that 
any  friend  of  the  administration  soberly  attempted  the  sore 
task  of  facing  their  keen,  sabre-like  stroke.  They  allowed 
little  room  for  shifting,  and  demanded  a  logical  response. 
Three  weeks  later,  came  the  speech  which  was  responsive  to 
the  desire  of  his  Springfield  friends  to  distinguish  himself.20 
It  was  sober  and  restrained  in  expression;  curbed  in  state 
ment,  concise  in  logic  and  comprehensive  in  treatment.  He 
spoke  more  like  a  distinguished  jurist  than  a  partisan 
pleader. 

"Now,  sir,  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  the  very  best  evi 
dence  as  to  whether  Texas  had  actually  carried  her  revolu 
tion  to  the  place  where  the  hostilities  of  the  present  war 

"Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  101.  "Ibid.,  96. 

*  Ibid.,  97. 


Lincoln  Opposes  Inception  of  Mexican  War         131 

commenced,  let  the  President  answer  the  interrogatories  I 
proposed,  as  before  mentioned,  or  some  other  similar  ones. 
Let  him  answer  fully,  fairly  and  candidly.  Let  him  answer 
with  facts  and  not  with  arguments.  Let  him  remember  he 
sits  where  Washington  sat  and  so  remembering,  let  him  an 
swer  as  Washington  would  answer.  As  a  nation  should  not, 
and  the  Almighty  will  not,  be  evaded,  so  let  him  attempt  no 
evasion — no  equivocation.  And  if,  so  answering,  he  can 
show  that  the  soil  was  ours  where  the  first  blood  of  the  war 
was  shed, — then  I  am  with  him  for  his  justification."  21  Then 
a  sentence  follows,  painful  and  remorseless  in  its  treatment 
of  the  vacillating  policy  of  the  President  stating  that  his 
mind,  taxed  beyond  its  power,  was  running  hither  and  thither, 
like  some  tortured  creature  on  a  burning  surface,  finding  no 
position  on  which  it  could  settle  down  and  be  at  ease.22 

This  speech  should  have  won  him  a  high  place  in  the  na 
tional  arena  of  controversy  and  debate,  were  it  not  that  the 
shifting  standard  of  public  judgment  often  exalts  the  thing 
of  the  hour  for  intrinsic  value,  ostentation  for  merit,  popu 
larity  for  worth.  This  speech  may  in  itself  command  the 
interest  of  those  who  would  know  the  motives  that  led  the 
Whigs  to  their  course  of  conduct.  They  did  not  seek  hard 
duties,  but  still  they  would  not  shirk  or  retreat  when  they 
showed  their  front. 

Lincoln  soon  learned  that  his  resolutions  and  speech,  how 
ever  unanswerable,  did  not  save  him  from  the  damaging 
charge  of  opposition  to  the  war  of  his  country.  Dissatisfac 
tion  ran  through  the  Whig  ranks  in  Illinois.  General  dis 
content  with  the  course  of  his  partner  even  turned  Herndon 
into  one  of  the  malcontents.  A  letter  soon  advised  Lincoln 
of  the  condition,  who  sent  a  sturdy  reply  to  the  complaint 
on  his  vote  on  Ashmun's  amendment, — "That  vote  affirms 

31  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  105.  32  Ibid.,  107. 


Lincoln  the  Politician 

that  the  war  was  unnecessarily  and  unconstitutionally  com 
menced  by  the  President ;  and  I  will  stake  my  life  that  if  you 
had  been  in  my  place  you  would  have  voted  just  as  I  did. 
Would  you  have  voted  what  you  felt  and  knew  to  be  a  lie? 
I  know  you  would  not.  Would  you  have  gone  out  of  the 
House — skulked  the  vote?  I  expect  not. — You  are  com 
pelled  to  speak,  and  your  only  alternative  is  to  tell  the  truth 
or  a  lie.  I  cannot  doubt  which  you  would  do."  23 

Later  Herndon  forwarded  a  constitutional  argument  in 
favor  of  the  policy  of  Polk  ingeniously  saying  that  it  was 
the  duty  of  the  President  as  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  army 
and  navy,  in  the  absence  of  Congress,  if  the  country  was 
about  to  be  invaded,  to  go,  if  necessary,  into  the  very  heart 
of  Mexico  and  prevent  the  invasion;  that  it  would  be  a 
crime  in  the  executive  to  let  the  country  be  invaded  in  the 
least  degree;  that  the  action  of  the  President  was  a  neces 
sity.24 

The  reply  that  hurried  to  Springfield  was  a  supreme  an 
swer.  No  judge  of  a  high  tribunal,  no  statesman  of  mature 
experience  could  have  more  thoroughly  disposed  of  a  specious 
contention.25  In  this  letter  of  Lincoln  there  appears  a  might 
and  an  ability  to  grapple  with  a  great  issue,  a  sincerity 
of  purpose,  a  soberness  of  thought  that  well  betokens  a 
student  and  patriot,  whose  heart  was  in  unison  with  the  in 
herent  purposes  of  the  Republic.  He  insisted  that  the  im 
perial  function  of  the  Constitution  in  leaving  the  declara 
tion  of  war  with  Congress  was  that  no  one  man  should  hold 
the  power  of  bringing  the  oppression  of  war  upon  the  peo 
ple.26  Through  this  letter  there  looms  up  the  man,  who 
above  all  men  hated  kingly  power  and  domination,  and  the 
consequent  impoverishment  of  the  people.  Herndon,  the 

28  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  110.  w  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  112. 

*  Herndon,  1,  266.  26  Ibid. 


Lincoln  Opposes  Inception  of  Mexican  War         183 

Abolitionist,  would,  for  the  sake  of  policy,  sanction  the  incep 
tion  of  an  unjust  aggression,  while  the  conservative  Lincoln 
stood  resolutely  when  the  hour  summoned  uncompromising 
conduct ;  then  his  knees  were  as  "unwedgeable  as  the  gnarled 
oak."  When  principle  was  at  stake  he  sent  policy  to  the 
rear.  At  such  times  he  was  more  aggressive  than  the  radical. 

A  letter  to  the  Editor  of  the  Tribune  shows  the  deep  hold 
that  this  subject  had  on  Lincoln,  his  restlessness  to  be  rightly 
understood  on  the  theme.  And  the  fact  that  he  undertook 
to  correct  Horace  Greeley  in  a  familiar  tone  is  an  indica 
tion  that  he  was  coming  to  the  front  as  a  champion  in  the 
Whig  ranks.  He  wrote  the  editor  that  he  discovered  a  para 
graph  in  the  Tribune  in  which  it  was  said  that  all  Whigs 
and  many  Democrats  contended  that  the  boundary  of  Texas 
stopped  at  the  Nueces.  He  contended  that  such  a  state 
ment  was  a  mistake  which  he  disliked  to  see  go  uncorrected 
in  a  leading  Whig  paper;  that  the  large  majority  of  Whigs 
in  the  House  of  Representatives  had  not  taken  that  position 
and  that  as  the  position  could  not  be  maintained  it  gave 
the  Democrats  advantage  of  them.  In  conclusion  Lincoln 
asked  the  editor  to  examine  what  he  said  in  a  printed  speech 
that  he  was  sending  him.27 

He  earnestly  wrote  to  a  minister  that  he  would  be  obliged 
for  a  reference  to  any  law,  human  or  divine,  in  which  an 
authority  could  be  found  for  saying  that  the  action  of  the 
Government  constituted  "no  aggression."  He  then  asked 
is  the  precept  "  'Whatsoever  ye  would  that  men  should  do  to 
you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them'  obsolete?  of  no  force?  of  no 
application?"  28 

He  was  not  so  elated  with  patriotism  that  he  lost  his 
standard  of  righteousness.  As  he  was  an  honest  judge  of 
his  own  conduct,  so  he  was  of  that  of  his  country.  This  rare 

"Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  133.  ™ Ibid.,  122. 


134  Lincoln  the  Politician 

ability  became  a  force  of  moment  in  later  years. 

During-  the  tumult  of  the  debate  on  the  Mexican  war 
Lincoln  wrote  in  his  own  rare  way  that  Stephens,  of  Georgia, 
a  little  slim,  pale-faced,  consumptive  man,  with  a  voice  like 
Logan's,  had  just  concluded  the  very  best  speech  of  an 
hour's  length  he  ever  heard ;  that  his  old  withered  dry  eyes 
were  full  of  tears  yet.29 

His  appreciation  knew  no  sectional  limits.  His  range 
of  vision  was  not  bounded  by  the  Mason  and  Dixon  line.  He 
was  as  much  at  home  with  the  sons  of  the  South  as  of.  the 
North;  he  took  the  same  interest  in  the  speech  of  Stephens 
of  Georgia  as  he  would  in  that  of  Webster. 
28 Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  111. 


CHAPTER  IX 

LINCOLN'S  ATTACK  ON  SLAVERY  IN  CONGRESS 

LINCOLN'S  main  assignment  in  congressional  committee 
work  was  on  Post-office  and  Post-roads.  He  plodded 
through  the  detail  duties  with  industry.  There  was  no  more 
earnest  worker  in  the  ranks  of  Congress.  On  an  important 
occasion,  Lincoln  stood  by  the  Democratic  Postmaster  Gen 
eral,  and  opposed  the  policy  of  the  Whig  members  of  the 
Committee.  He  worked  out  a  painstaking  plan  for  certain 
postmasters  receiving  subscriptions  for  newspapers  and  peri 
odicals.  He  declared  it  to  be  in  accordance  with  republican 
institutions,  which  could  be  best  sustained  by  the  diffusion 
of  knowledge  and  the  due  encouragement  of  a  universal,  na 
tional  spirit  of  inquiry  and  discussion  of  public  events 
through  the  medium  of  the  public  press.1 

Lincoln  prepared  himself  thoroughly  in  the  logic  of  pro 
tection  to  American  industries.  He  advanced  considerably 
in  a  serious  understanding  of  its  fundamental  importance. 
Not  satisfied  with  old  and  common  contention,  he  sounded 
the  depths  of  discussion,  by  his  quaint  and  original  method. 

He  had  intense  sympathy  for  the  toiler.  He  deemed  a 
wise  and  just  distribution  of  wealth  a  national  duty.  He 
pronounced  that  rather  than  production  the  deeper  object 
of  government.  "And  inasmuch,"  he  said,  "as  most  good 
things  are  produced  by  labor,  it  follows  that  all  such  things 
of  right  belong  to  those  whose  labor  has  produced  them. 

1  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  113. 

135 


136  Lincoln  the  Politician 

But  it  has  so  happened,  in  all  ages  of  the  world,  that  some 
have  labored,  and  others  have  without  labor  enjoyed  a  large 
proportion  of  the  fruits.  That  is  wrong,  and  should  not 
continue.  To  secure  to  each  laborer  the  whole  product  of 
his  labor,  or  as  nearly  as  possible,  is  a  worthy  object  of 
any  good  government."  2 

He  was  in  advance  of  the  thought  of  his  day  in  insisting 
that  all  transportation,  commerce,  distribution,  not  essen 
tial,  was  a  heavy  pensioner  upon  industry,  depriving  it  of 
a  large  proportion  of  its  just  fruits.  He  advocated  the 
remedy  of  driving  useless  toil  and  idleness  out  of  existence. 
He  announced  that  all  work  done  directly  or  indirectly  in 
carrying  articles  to  the  place  of  consumption,  which  could 
have  been  produced  in  sufficient  abundance,  with  as  little 
effort  at  the  place  of  consumption  as  at  the  place  they  were 
carried  from,  was  useless  labor.3  These  fragments  show 
the  intellectual  power  of  a  growing  man  of  fine  sympathies, 
the  sound  conviction  of  a  benefactor  of  his  kind. 

That  Lincoln  rapidly  adapted  himself  to  the  ways  of 
Congress  appears  from  the  variety  of  the  subjects  he  dis 
cussed.  Few  of  the  new  comers  were  more  in  evidence.  His 
speech  on  internal  improvements  reveal  the  secret  of  his 
power.  He  sought  no  name  to  sanction  his  opinions,  he  used 
his  own  illustrations  and  reached  his  conclusions  unaided.  He 
attacked  the  opinions  of  those  high  in  power  and  station. 
President  Polk  maintained  that  the  burden  of  improvements 
would  be  general  while  the  benefits  would  be  local,  thus  in 
volving  a  pernicious  inequality.  The  reply  of  Lincoln  is 
a  sign  of  his  political  wisdom.  He  argued  that  inequality 
was  never  to  be  embraced  for  its  own  sake ;  but  that  if  every 
good  thing  was  to  be  discarded  which  might  be  inseparably 
connected  with  some  degree  of  inequality,  then  all  govern- 
2  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  92.  8  Ibid.,  93, 


Lincoln's  Attack  on  Slavery  in  Congress  137 

ment  would  have  to  be  discarded.  The  Capitol,  he  continued, 
was  built  at  the  public  expense,  but  still  it  was  of  some 
peculiar  local  advantage,  and  to  make  sure  of  all  inequality 
Congress  would  have  to  hold  its  sessions,  as  the  loafer  lodged, 
"in  spots  about."  He  added  that  there  were  few  stronger 
cases  in  this  world  of  "burden  to  the  many  and  benefit  to  the 
few,"  of  "inequality,"  than  the  Presidency  itself;  that  an 
honest  laborer  dug  coal  at  about  seventy  cents  a  day,  while 
the  President  dug  abstractions  at  about  Seventy  Dollars  a 
day,  and  the  coal  was  clearly  worth  more  than  the  abstrac 
tions.  He  declared  that  the  true  rule,  in  determining 
whether  to  embrace  or  reject  anything,  was  not  whether  it 
had  any  evil  in  it,  but  whether  it  had  more  of  evil  than  of 
good;  that  almost  everything,  especially  of  government  pol 
icy,  was  an  inseparable  compound  of  the  two;  so  that  the 
best  judgment  of  the  preponderance  between  them  was  con 
tinually  demanded.4 

A  great  national  party  witnessed  only  the  malign  con 
sequences  of  the  internal  improvement  policy.  To  avoid  its 
abuse,  they  practically  advocated  its  abatement.  Seeing  only 
the  danger  of  extravagance,  the  Democratic  party  was  not 
free  to  contemplate  prudent  expenditures.  Lincoln  with  his 
keen  sight  presented  a  solution  indicative  of  statesman 
ship.  His  plan  permitted  the  States  working  in  a  smaller 
sphere  of  activity  in  local  improvements  to  cross  paths  and 
to  work  together  in  larger  national  matters  under  the  guid 
ance  of  sober  and  restrained  general  legislation,  based  on 
statistical  information. 

The  keen,  shrewd  instinct  of  the  politician  in  Lincoln 
shows  through  his  strenuous  advocacy  of  General  Taylor  as 
the  Whig  candidate  for  the  Presidency.  He  was  in  the  van  in 
fighting  opposition  in  Illinois  to  the  silent  soldier  and  un- 

4  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  126. 


138  Lincoln  the  Politician 

tried  statesman.  In  April  he  wrote  his  friend  Washburne 
to  let  nothing  discourage  or  baffle  him,  but,  in  spite  of  every 
difficulty,  to  send  a  good  Taylor  delegate  from  his  circuit, 
and  to  make  Baker,  who  was  a  good  hand  to  raise  a  breeze, 
to  help  about  it.5  On  the  same  day  he  admonished  another 
associate  in  his  inimitable  manner.  "I  know  our  good  friend 
Browning  is  a  great  admirer  of  Mr.  Clay,  and  I  therefore 
fear  he  is  favoring  his  nomination.  If  he  is,  ask  him  to 
discard  feeling,  and  try  if  he  can  possibly,  as  a  matter  of 
judgment,  count  the  votes  necessary  to  elect  him. 

"In  my  judgment  we  can  elect  nobody  but  General  Tay 
lor;  but  we  cannot  elect  him  without  a  nomination.  There 
fore,  don't  fail  to  send  a  delegate."  6 

His  admiration  for  Clay  was  subdued  in  his  zeal  for  politi 
cal  success.  He  would  not  do  honor  to  the  statesman  as  an 
idle  tribute  so  he  would  put  him  aside  and  call  to  the  leader 
ship  of  the  Whig  party  a  man  whose  strength  was  largely  in 
the  uncertainty  of  his  views,  in  silence  not  in  known  sin 
cerity.  He  saw  its  cause  could  triumph  with  Taylor;  that 
the  extension  of  the  slave  power  was  more  likely  to  come 
from  the  northern  non-slave-holding  Cass  than  from  the 
southern  slave-holding  Taylor.  To  still  further  confound 
the  jumble,  the  Whig  convention  avoided  annunciation  of 
distinctive  principles,  and  even  dared  to  vote  down  an  affirm 
ance  of  the  Wilmot  Proviso.7  After  the  selection  of  "Old 
Rough,"  with  Stephens,  Toombs  and  Preston,  he  continued 
an  aggressive  interest  in  his  candidacy.8  He  again  pleaded 
with  his  friends  for  support  from  his  State. 

"By  many,  and  often,  it  has  been  said  they  would  not 
abide  the  nomination  of  Taylor ;  but  since  the  deed  has  been 
done,  they  are  fast  falling  in,  and  in  my  opinion  we  shall 

5  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  118.  7Greeley,  1,  192. 

8Tarbell,  1,  216. 


Lmcoln's  Attack  on  Slavery  in  Congress  139 

have  a  most  overwhelming  glorious  triumph.  One  unmis 
takable  sign  is  that  all  the  odds  and  ends  are  with  us — 
Barburners,  Native  Americans,  Tyler  men,  disappointed 
office-seeking  Locofocos,  and  the  Lord  knows  what.  This  is 
important,  if  in  nothing  else,  in  showing  which  way  the  wind 
blows.  Some  of  the  sanguine  men  have  set  down  all  the  states 
as  certain  for  Taylor  but  Illinois,  and  it  as  doubtful.  Can 
not  something  be  done  even  in  Illinois  ?  Taylor's  nomination 
takes  the  Locos  on  the  blind  side.  It  turns  the  war  thunder 
against  them.  The  war  is  now  to  them  the  gallows  of  Haman, 
which  they  built  for  us,  and  upon  which  they  are  doomed  to 
be  hanged  themselves."  9 

According  to  a  peculiar  and  prevalent  method  in  the 
House,  of  Spending  public  money  for  personal  or  partisan 
purposes,  Lincoln  availed  himself  of  the  privilege  of  making 
a  campaign  speech.  It  has  met  with  varied  comment. 
Lamon  freely  and  soberly  passes  this  judgment.  "Few  like 
it  have  ever  been  heard  in  either  of  those  venerable  chambers. 
It  is  a  common  remark  of  those  who  know  nothing  of  the 
subject,  that  Mr.  Lincoln  was  devoid  of  imagination;  but 
the  reader  of  this  speech  will  entertain  a  different  opinion. 
It  opens  to  us  a  mind  fertile  in  images  sufficiently  rare  and 
striking,  but  of  somewhat  questionable  taste.  It  must  have 
been  heard  in  amazement  by  those  gentlemen  of  the  House 
who  had  never  known  a  Hanks,  or  seen  a  New  Salem."  10 

Herndon,  twenty  years  later,  pronounced  it  a  masterpiece 
and  declared  that  one  who  would  read  it  would  lay  it  down 
convincd  that  Lincoln's  ascendency  for  a  quarter  of  a  cen 
tury  among  the  political  spirits  in  Illinois  was  by  no  means 
an  accident,  and  would  not  wonder  that  Douglas,  with  all 
his  forensic  ability,  averted,  as  long  as  he  could,  a  contest 
with  a  man  whose  plain,  analytical  reasoning  was  not  less 

•Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  122.  10 Lamon,  298. 


140  Lincoln  the  Politician 

potent  than  his  mingled  drollery  and  caricature  were 
effective.* 

Lincoln  entered  on  the  hard  job  of  showing  that  it  was 
sound  doctrine  for  the  President  to  shun  defined  public  opin 
ions  and  allow  Congress  its  own  way  without  hindrance  from 
the  chief  executive.  The  history  of  the  United  States  has 
been  a  vigorous  answer  to  this  contention.  As  President  he 
made  short  shrift  of  that  policy,  though  his  splendid  state 
ment  of  the  Whig  position  may  well  attract  more  than  pass 
ing  attention.  He  maintained  that  the  Democrats  were  in 
favor  of  laying  down  in  advance  a  platform  as  a  unit,  and 
then  of  forcing  the  people  to  ratify  all  of  its  provisions, 
however  unpalatable  some  of  them  might  be ;  that  the  Whigs 
were  in  favor  of  making  Presidential  elections,  and  the  legis 
lation  of  the  country  distinct  matters ;  so  that  the  people 
could  elect  whom  they  pleased,  and  afterwards  legislate  just 
as  they  pleased.  The  difference,  he  insisted,  was  as  clear  as 
noon  day,  and  that  leaving  the  People's  business  in  their 
hands  was  the  true  Republican  position.11 

No  more  dramatic  attack  during  the  entire  session,  ar 
raigning  the  Democratic  candidate  was  made  than  in  this 
speech  for  his  attitude  on  the  Wilmot  resolution.  "In  1846," 
says  Lincoln,  "General  Cass  was  for  the  proviso  at  once; 
that  in  March,  1847,  he  was  still  for  it,  but  not  just  then; 
and  that  in  December,  1847,  he  was  against  it  altogether. 
This  is  a  true  index  to  the  whole  man.  When  the  question 
was  raised  in  1846,  he  was  in  a  blustering  hurry  to  take 
ground  for  it.  He  sought  to  be  in  advance,  and  to  avoid  the 
uninteresting  position  of  a  mere  follower ;  but  soon  he  began 
to  see  glimpses  of  the  great  Democratic  ox-goad  waving  in 
his  face,  and  to  hear  indistinctly,  a  voice  saying,  "Back! 
Back,  sir!  Back  a  little!"  He  shakes  his  head  and  bats  his 

*  Herndon,  1,  273.  u  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  139. 


Lincoln's  Attack  on  Slavery  in  Congress  141 

eyes,  and  blunders  back  to  his  position  of  March,  1847 ;  but 
still  the  goad  waves,  and  the  voice  grows  more  distinct  and 
sharper  still,  "Back,  sir,  Back,  I  say!  Further  back!" — 
and  back  he  goes  to  the  position  of  December,  1847,  at  which 
the  goad  is  still,  and  the  voice  soothingly  says,  "So !  Stand 
at  that!"* 

That  Lincoln  had  not  fully  forgotten  the  form  of  utter 
ance  that  angered  Darbey  and  has  bothered  most  biogra 
phers  since,  appears  in  the  following  selection:  "Like  a 
horde  of  hungry  ticks  you  have  stuck  to  the  tail  of  the 
Hermitage  lion  to  the  end  of  his  life ;  and  you  are  still  stick 
ing  to  it,  and  drawing  a  loathsome  sustenance  from  it,  after 
he  is  dead.  A  fellow  once  advertised  that  he  had  made  a 
discovery  by  which  he  could  make  a  new  man  out  of  an  old 
one,  and  have  enough  of  the  stuff  left  to  make  a  little  yellow 
dog.  Just  such  a  discovery  has  General  Jackson's  popu 
larity  been  to  you.  You  not  only  twice  made  President  out 
of  him  out  of  it,  but  you  have  had  enough  of  the  stuff  left 
to  make  Presidents  of  several  comparatively  small  men  since ; 
and  it  is  your  chief  reliance  now  to  make  still  another."  12 

At  least  it  may  be  said  that  he  was  not  the  aggressor  or 
the  sole  participant  in  such  a  "scathing  and  withering 
style,"  13  nor  is  it  at  all  hard  to  find  like  statements  and 
oratory  in  every  period  of  our  history.  This  is  almost  the 
last  time  that  the  historian  need  halt  in  his  comment  on 
the  expression  of  Lincoln.  Years  of  experience  brought  him 
to  a  higher  conception  of  public  utterances.  When  the  sub 
ject  matter  bade  exalted  expression  he  grew  to  the  occasion 
with  amazing  avidity. 

This  speech  revealed  Lincoln  to  Congress.  It  gained  pres 
tige  among  the  fulminations  of  the  session.  The  Baltimore 

*  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  143.  ™  Ibid.,  139. 

"Ibid.,  140. 


Lincoln  the  Politician 

American  named  it  the  "crack  speech  of  the  day."  It  labeled 
Lincoln  as  a  very  able,  acute,  uncouth,  honest,  upright  man 
and  a  tremendous,  wag  withal.14 

His  reputation  as  a  Congressman  and  orator,  begot  him 
the  honorable  privilege  of  addressing  in  September,  the  same 
audience  in  the  east  that  often  listened  to  the  triumphant 
Webster.  Only  a  faint  echo  of  these  speeches  of  the  Illinois 
representative  remains. 

A  representative  Boston  newspaper  reports  him  as  say 
ing  that  the  people  of  Illinois  agreed  entirely  with  the  people 
in  Massachusetts  on  the  slavery  question,  except,  that  they 
did  not  think  about  it  as  constantly ;  that  all  agreed  that 
slavery  was  an  evil,  which  could  not  be  affected  in  the  slave 
states ;  but  that  the  question  of  the  extension  of  slavery  to 
new  territories  was  under  control.  In  opposition  to  this 
extension  Lincoln  believed  that  the  self-named  "Free  Soil" 
party  was  far  behind  the  Whigs ;  that  the  "Free  Soil"  men 
in  claiming  that  name,  indirectly  attempted  a  deception,  by 
implying  that  Whigs  were  not  free  soil  men ;  that  in  declar 
ing  that  they  would  "do  their  duty  and  leave  the  conse 
quences  to  God,"  merely  gave  an  excuse  for  taking  a  course 
they  were  not  able  to  maintain  by  fair  argument.  Making 
this  declaration,  he  further  argued,  did  not  show  what  their 
duty  was,  that  if  it  did  there  would  be  no  use  for  judgment; 
that  men  might  as  well  be  made  without  intellect,  and  when 
divine  or  human  law  did  not  clearly  point  their  duty,  they 
had  no  means  of  finding  out  what  it  was  by  using  their  most 
intellectual  judgment  of  the  consequences,  and  that  if  there 
were  divine  law  or  human  law  for  voting  for  Martin  Van 
Buren,  then  he  would  give  up  the  argument.15 

New  England  testified  to  its  liking  for  the  western  advo 
cate  of  Taylor.  The  Boston  Advertiser  stated  that  at  the 
"Tarbell,  1,  217.  15  Ibid.,  2,  297-298. 


Lincoln's  Attack  on  Slavery  in  Congress  143 

close  of  his  masterly  speech,  the  audience  gave  three  enthusi 
astic  cheers  for  Illinois,  and  three  more  for  the  eloquent 
Whig  member  from  that  state.16  His  Boston  speech  was  so 
effective  "that  several  Whigs  who  had  gone  off  on  the  'Free 
Soil'  fizzle  returned  again  to  the  Whig  ranks."  17 

Ida  Tarbell  contends  that  at  this  time  Lincoln  first  ex 
perienced  the  full  meaning  of  the  "Free  Soil"  sentiment, 
as  Massachusetts  was  then  quivering  under  the  impas 
sioned  protests  of  the  great  Abolitionists,  and  Sumner 
was  beginning  to  devote  his  life  to  freedom  and  was  speak 
ing  often  at  riotous  meetings.  Miss  Tarbell  further  main 
tains  Lincoln  was  sensitive  to  every  shade  of  popular  feeling 
in  New  England,  and  was  stirred  as  never  before  on  the 
question  of  slavery ;  that  he  heard  Seward's  speech  in  Tre- 
mont  Temple,  and  that  night,  as  the  two  men  sat  talking, 
said  gravely  to  the  great  anti-slavery  advocate: 

"Governor  Seward,  I  have  been  thinking  about  what  you 
said  in  your  speech.  I  reckon  you  are  right.  We  have  got 
to  deal  with  this  slavery  question,  and  got  to  give  much 
more  attention  to  it  hereafter  than  we  have  been  doing."  18 

This  evidence  does  not  prove  that  Lincoln  then  began  to 
take  radical  ground  on  the  slavery  question.  Ten  years  be 
fore  in  the  Illinois  Legislature,  he  made  his  protest,  and 
later  at  every  opportunity  when  circumstances  favored.  His 
hatred  to  slavery  had  long  been  kindled.  He  needed  little 
inspiration  from  the  New  York  orator  on  New  England  soil 
to  start  his  indignation.  His  statement  to  Seward  shows 
that  he  was  ready  for  radical  conduct  as  soon  as  the  event 
permitted  the  onslaught.  He  rejoiced  at  the  growth  of  the 
public  opinion  that  betokened  the  doom  of  the  artificial 
institution.  But  he  did  not  need  to  sit  at  the  feet  of  eastern 
teachers.  The  New  England  trip  was  an  incident,  not  an 

16  Tarbell,  2,  299.  "Ibid.,  1,  128.  w  Ibid.,  224. 


144  Lincoln  the  Politician 

epoch  in  his  career. 

The  second  session  of  this  Congress  was  rather  free  from 
turbulence.  Lincoln  was  a  silent  spectator.  He  went  with 
his  party  on  the  main  issues  and  voted  for  the  Wilmot  Pro 
viso  "about  42  times."  19  The  Northern  Democrats  in  the 
House  returned  in  a  resentful  spirit  at  the  support  rendered 
Taylor  by  eight  slave  states.  They  were  not  backward  in 
supporting  legislation  to  exclude  slavery  from  California 
and  New  Mexico.20  The  Senate,  true  to  its  love  of  vested 
interests  speedily  disposed  of  the  proposal. 

During  the  session  a  New  York  representative  let  loose  a 
resolution  with  the  clanging  preamble  of  a  "law  rooting  out 
the  slave  trade  in  the  District  of  Columbia."  21  Lincoln  was 
one  of  three  or  four  northern  Whigs  who  voted  to  lay  this 
exuberant  measure  on  the  table.22 

As  the  sole  Whig  representative  of  his  State,  coming  from 
a  constituency  hardly  distinguished  for  its  anti-slavery  sen 
timents,  while  most  Whigs  even  from  the  New  England  states 
were  silent ;  no  external  duty  beckoned  him ;  no  powerful  or 
ganization  called  him  to  ride  the  storm  by  branding  the 
jealous  institution.  Selfish  ambition  whispered  prudence  and 
calmed  the  voice  of  protest. 

But  within  the  very  shade  of  the  Capitol,  the  slave  girl 
was  coined  into  drachmas.  He  felt  the  world  shame  that  had 
come  upon  the  nation  by  this  blot  on  its  professions.  The 
desire  to  strike  another  blow  grew  strong  in  him.  As  he 
tried  a  decade  before  in  the  legislative  halls  of  Illinois,  so 
now  in  the  national  assembly,  in  a  very  home  of  slavery,  he 
rang  forth  his  hate  of  the  old  injustice.  Still  he  did  not  give 
way  to  an  outburst  of  vengeance;  he  husbanded  his  anger; 
thought  only  of  the  consequence,  planned  with  wisdom  the 

19  Lamon,  309.  a  Ibid.,  286. 

^Nicolay  &  Hay,  1,  283-284.  "Lamon,  308. 


Lincoln's  Attack  on  Slavery  in  Congress  145 

most  effective  stab  at  the  national  disgrace. 

The  politician  walked  hand  in  hand  with  the  patriot.  He 
gathered  discordant  elements  to  the  support  of  a  common 
cause  calling  forth  admiration  at  the  unrivalled  policy.  Hd 
consecrated  to  the  high  purpose  of  dedicating  the  national 
Capitol  to  a  free  citizenship,  a  devotion  and  sagacity  that 
made  him  the  peer  of  any  strategist  of  his  day.  He  con 
ceived  and  carried  out  a  daring  plan  of  securing  the  support 
to  his  astounding  proposal  of  the  Mayor  of  Washington,  a 
representative  of  the  intelligent  slave-holding  citizens  of  that 
community.  With  equal  skill,  he  secured  the  reinforcement 
of  the  radical  Giddings,  who  says  in  his  diary  that  Lincoln's 
bill  to  abolish  slavery  was  approved  by  all;  that  he  believed 
it  as  good  a  bill  as  we  could  get  at  this  time,  and  was  willing 
to  pay  for  slaves  in  order  to  save  them  from  the  southern 
market,  as  he  supposed  every  man  in  the  District  would  sell 
his  slaves  if  he  saw  that  slavery  was  to  be  abolished.23 
Lincoln  held  together  two  such  leaders  in  advocacy  of  the 
same  measure  affecting  the  sore  subject,  thus  revealing  the 
supreme  tactician,  who  in  later  years  held  to  the  public 
service  a  Seward,  a  Stanton  and  a  Chase  in  the  same  cabinet. 

He  persuaded  the  slave  holder  that  it  was  wiser  to  adopt 
his  measure  than  in  later  years  confront  the  danger  of  more 
exacting  legislation.  He  convinced  the  Abolitionists  that 
his  law  was  the  best  then  attainable.  His  alarming  propo 
sition  was  as  innocent  in  expression  as  patience  and  wisdom 
could  make  it.  It  provided  for  the  ultimate  emancipation  of 
all  slaves  born  after  1850  and  the  manumission  of  existing 
slaves  on  full  payment  to  willing  owners.  After  soberly  pro 
viding  for  the  return  of  all  fugitive  slaves  the  whole  plan 
was  made  dependent  upon  the  approval  of  a  popular  vote.24 

The  slaveholders  were  more  illiberal  than  the  Abolitionists. 

23  Nicolay  &  Hay,   1,  286-287.  u  Ibid.,  287. 


146  Lincoln  the  Politician 

They  spurned  all  compromise.  They  would  admit  no  sug 
gestion  that  laid  bare  the  injustice  of  their  institution.  They 
knew  that  when  an  inroad  was  once  made,  its  days  would  be 
numbered ;  that  compromise  was  the  dawn  of  the  end.  They 
brought  all  their  power  into  being.  The  social  influences  of 
Washington  were  called  into  polite  requisition  and  the 
Mayor,  under  this  duress,  withdrew  his  sanction.25  The 
biographers,  who  knew  Lincoln  in  the  days  of  trial,  have 
given  expression  to  a  splendid  tribute  to  his  constancy. 
"Fifteen  years  afterwards,  in  the  stress  and  tempest  of  a 
terrible  war,  it  was  Mr.  Lincoln's  strange  fortune  to  sign  a 
bill  sent  him  by  Congress  for  the  abolition  of  slavery  in 
Washington;  and  perhaps  the  most  remarkable  thing  about 
the  whole  transaction  was  that  while  we  were  looking  po 
litically  upon  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth, — for  the  vast 
change  in  our  moral  and  economical  condition  might  justify 
so  audacious  a  phrase, — when  there  was  scarcely  a  man 
on  the  continent  who  had  not  greatly  shifted  his  point  of 
view  in  a  dozen  years,  there  was  so  little  change  in  Mr. 
Lincoln.  The  same  hatred  of  slavery,  the  same  sympathy 
with  the  slave,  the  same  consideration  for  the  slaveholder  as 
the  victim  of  a  system  he  had  inherited,  the  same  sense  of 
divided  responsibility  between  the  South  and  the  North,  the 
same  desire  to  effect  great  reforms  with  as  little  individual 
damage  and  injury,  as  little  disturbance  of  social  conditions 
as  possible,  were  equally  evident  when  the  raw  pioneer  signed 
the  protest  with  Dan  Stone  of  Vandalia,  when  the  mature 
man  moved  the  resolution  of  1849  in  the  Capitol  and  when 
the  President  gave  the  sanction  of  his  bold  signature  of  the 
act  which  swept  away  the  slave  shambles  from  the  City  of 
Washington."  26 

He  warred  against  slavery^  not  the  slave  holder.     He  took 

25  Nicolay  &  Hay,  1,  287-288.  *  Ibid.,  288. 


Lincoln's  Attack  on  Slavery  in  Congress  147 

full  account  of  the  conditions  leading  to  the  ownership  of 
human  property.  He  realized  that  it  was  a  legacy  of  a 
former  age,  that  it  was  not  a  product  of  present  and  indi 
vidual  responsibility,  that  it  was  a  national  fault  not  a 
private  one,  that  the  slave  holder  was  the  victim  of  the 
system  not  the  cause.  So  he  would  not  have  the  change 
come  with  a  rush  lest  it  might  not  be  abiding.  He  was 
willing  to  wait.  Lincoln  knew  that  progress  is  a  slow  and 
labored  process  and  that  haste  is  often  the  companion  of 
reaction.  He  would  awaken  no  just  and  general  resentment, 
a  resentment  that  still  lingers  in  the  hearts  of  men  from  a 
war-won  emancipation.  It  would  have  been  well  for  the 
North  and  South  had  this  measure  of  gradual  compensated 
emancipation  have  become  the  settled  policy  of  the  nation. 
The  most  cankerous  conflict  of  the  age  might  have  been 
spared  and  the  problems  resulting  therefrom  less  perplexing. 
Like  a  wise  surgeon,  he  dared  an  early  operation  rather  than 
delay  the  necessity  of  a  more  drastic  remedy.  When 
passion  forged  to  the  front  as  the  guide,  when  North  and 
South  had  ample  occasion  to  dwell  on  mutual  wrongs,  when 
the  Constitution  of  the  Union  ceased  to  be  the  prevailing 
measure  of  the  individual  and  general  welfare,  the  days  of 
peace  were  being  numbered.  Lincoln  realized  that  compro 
mise  is  only  available  when  wisely  adapted  to  opposing  forces 
at  the  fitting  time. 

Thus,  there  stood  forth  in  Congress  a  man  who  subdued 
his  passion  for  the  Declaration  of  Independence  and  yet  who 
was  not  willing  that  the  down-trodden  should  eternally  re 
main  in  the  darkness  of  vicarious  government.  He  knew 
that  slavery  could  not  always  dwell  in  the  seat  of  govern 
ment,  that  the  time  would  come  when  there  would  be  no 
human  chattel  on  American  soil.  Still,  Lincoln  did  not  shift 
to  others  the  whole  burden  of  bringing  the  day  to  pass,  but 


148  Lincoln  the  Politician 

took  his  stand  against  the  iniquity  of  human  bondage  with 
sublime  wisdom.  He  tempered  but  did  not  dull  his  sense  of 
justice.  He  struck  a  second  blow  at  the  national  evil,  a 
sign  that  he  still  was  true  to  his  vow  at  New  Orleans  and 
his  protest  at  Vandalia. 

Like  other  legislators,  Lincoln  was  obliged  to  deal  with 
the  issue  of  handing  out  offices  as  party  spoil.  Trade  and 
industry  were  still  in  their  infancy  and  had  not  yet  begun 
to  attract  the  activity  of  the  aspiring.  The  highway  to 
general  distinction  and  to  honor  was  largely  that  of  public 
office.  Hence,  there  ensued,  in  the  words  of  Lincoln,  a 
"wriggle  and  struggle  for  office"  and  an  effort  to  find  "a  way 
to  live  without  work."  27 

The  attitude  of  Lincoln  in  days  when  the  Jackson  theory 
was  in  its  full  vigor  is  noteworthy.  As  the  sole  Whig  rep 
resentative,  beside  Colonel  Baker,  Lincoln  asked,  in  1849, 
to  be  heard  on  all  appointments  in  Illinois.  His  remark 
able  action  is  seen  in  the  following  letter:  "Mr.  Bond  I 
know  to  be  personally  every  way  worthy  of  the  office ;  and 
he  is  very  numerously  and  most  respectably  recommended. 
His  papers  I  send  to  you;  and  I  sblicit  for  his  claims  a  full 
and  fair  consideration.  Having  said  this  much,  I  add  that 
in  my  individual  judgment  the  appointment  of  Mr.  Thomas 
would  be  better.  ...  I  add  that  from  personal  knowledge 
I  consider  Mr.  Bond  every  way  worthy  of  the  office,  and 
qualified  to  fill  it.  Holding  the  individual  opinion  that  the 
appointment  of  a  different  gentleman  would  be  better,  I  ask 
especial  attention  and  consideration  for  his  claim,  and  for 
the  opinions  expressed  in  his  favor  by  those  over  whom  I  can 
claim  no  superiority." 28  As  Congressman  he  selected  a 
postman  of  a  village  with  the  same  precision  that  he  later 
did  a  war  minister. 

27  Herndon,  1,  279.  »  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  151-152. 


Lincoln's  Attack  on  Slavery  in  Congress  149 

The  activity  of  Lincoln  in  securing  the  nomination  and 
election  of  Taylor  commanded  the  regard  of  some  leading 
politicians.  They  advised  his  candidacy  for  the  General 
Land  Office.  Lincoln  was  poorly  equipped  to  seek  the  favor 
of  those  dispensing  patronage.  He  was  not  gifted  with 
assiduity  or  forwardness  so  often  essential  to  bearing  away 
the  palm.  Seldom  has  a  hunter  for  alluring  official  service 
so  gently  put  obstacles  in  the  way  of  his  success.  Though 
it  is  claimed  he  was  even  eager  for  the  prize,  he  was  careful 
to  a  nicety,  to  avoid  a  false  position,  while  others  were  bend 
ing  every  effort  and  using  every  means  at  their  disposal. 

To  several  friends  he  wrote  the  following  unique  letter: 
"Some  months  since  I  gave  my  word  to  secure  the  appoint 
ment  to  that  office  of  Mr.  Cyrus  Edwards,  if  in  my  power, 
in  a  case  of  a  vacancy ;  and  more  recently  I  stipulated  with 
Colonel  Baker  that  if  Mr.  Edwards  and  Colonel  J.  L.  D. 
Morrison  could  arrange  with  each  other  for  one  of  them  to 
withdraw,  we  would  jointly  recommend  the  other.  In  rela 
tion  to  these  pledges,  I  must  not  only  be  chaste,  but  above 
suspicion.  If  the  office  shall  be  tendered  to  me,  I  must  be 
permitted  to  say:  'Give  it  to  Mr.  Edwards,  or  if  so  agreed 
by  them,  to  Colonel  Morrison,  and  I  decline  it ;  if  not,  I 
accept.'  With  this  understanding  you  are  at  liberty  to 
procure  me  the  offer  of  the  appointment  if  you  can;  and  I 
shall  feel  complimented  by  your  effort,  and  still  more  by  its 
success."29 

But  even  his  patience  gave  way  when  Justin  Butterfield, 
a  late  opponent  of  Taylor,  was  considered  for  the  place. 
He  burst  forth  with  the  statement  that  if  anything  should 
be  given  to  the  State,  it  should  be  so  given  as  to  gratify 
friends,  and  to  stimulate  them  to  future  exertions,  and  that 
it  would  mortify  him  deeply  if  General  Taylor's  administra- 

89  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  153-154. 


150  Lincoln  the  Politician 

tion  should  trample  all  his  wishes  in  the  dust  merely  to 
gratify  friends  of  Clay.30 

It  was  not  surprising  that  the  laggard  procedure  of 
Lincoln  lost  him  this  place.  Political  offices,  like  opportu 
nity,  do  not  wait  long.  And  so  it  came  to  pass  that  the 
former  opponent  of  the  President  was  selected  in  the  place 
of  one  who  was  his  earnest  advocate  from  the  beginning. 
Though  not  backward  in  his  claim  for  an  elective  office,  he 
was  still  little  inclined  to  play  the  servile  part  in  an  ap 
pointive  position.  He  was  willing  enough  to  submit  to  the 
democratic  judgment  of  his  fellow  men  when  he  was  given  a 
public  opportunity  to  present  his  claim,  but  he  timidly  shrank 
from  a  personal  solicitation  of  a  Presidential  favor. 

His  final  letter  on  the  history  of  this  affair  is  rather 
tinged  with  another  sorrow.  Mr.  Edwards  being  offended 
with  him,  he  wrote  that  the  better  part  of  one's  life  con 
sisted  of  his  friendships ;  that  at  a  word  he  could  have  had 
the  office  any  time  before  the  Department  was  committed 
to  Mr.  Butterfield;  and  that  word  he  forbore  to  speak 
chiefly  for  Mr.  Edwards'  sake, — losing  the  office  that  he 
might  gain  it,  and  that  to  lose  his  friendship,  by  the  effort 
for  him  would  oppress  him  very  much,  were  he  not  sustained 
by  the  utmost  consciousness  of  rectitude.31 

The  selection  of  Butterfield  for  the  General  Land  Office 
did  not  shake  the  efforts  of  the  friends  of  Lincoln  to  secure 
recognition  of  his  valiant  services  in  the  Whig  ranks.  He 
was  tendered  the  governorship  of  Oregon  by  Fillmore.  The 
new  land  held  forth  enticing  political  promises,  it  was  soon 
to  become  a  state  and  a  senatorship  was  a  fair  prospect. 
Close  associates  advised  acceptance.  Lamon  says  that  Lin 
coln  saw  it  all,  and  would  have  accepted  "if  his  wife  con 
sented,"  but  she  refused  to  do  so;  and  that  time  has  shown 
80  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  155.  31  Tarbell,  2,  300-301. 


Lincoln's  Attack  on  Slavery  in  Congress  151 

that  she  was  right.32  What  part  Lincoln  would  have 
played  in  history  if  he  had  become  a  senator  from  Ore 
gon  may  be  interesting  but  none  the  less  vain  specula 
tion.  If  the  Lincoln  and  Douglas  debates  had  been  shifted 
from  the  prairies  of  Illinois  to  the  national  arena  at  Wash 
ington,  who  can  say  that  Lincoln  and  Douglas  might  not 
have  become  rivals  for  the  Presidency?  It  has  been  quite 
the  fashion  to  assume  that  the  Senate  would  have  been  de 
structive  to  the  future  of  Lincoln,  overlooking  the  plain 
fact  that  the  National  Assembly  was  the  home  of  the  re 
nown  of  Douglas  and  his  ladder  to  the  Presidential  nomina 
tion.  Lincoln  was  not  spoiled  by  the  highest  office  in  the 
land  and  there  is  no  surety  that  the  senate  would  have 
proved  the  grave  of  his  career. 

Two  scant  years  of  Congressional  life  worked  a  change  in 
the  politician  from  Illinois.  He  had  come  in  a  subdued  mood 
to  mingle  in  national  affairs.  Shrinkingly,  he  measured  his 
humble  equipment  with  that  of  illustrious  legislators  in 
Washington.  While  he  left  a  respectable,  but  not  an  emi 
nent  record  of  achievement,  he  departed  with  a  store  of  con 
fidence  in  his  worth.  His  intimate  association  with  northern, 
and  southern  leaders,  his  sure,  inner  knowledge  of  national 
legislative  methods,  his  insight  into  the  uncompromising  char 
acter  of  the  slavery  controversy  were  not  wasted  in  the  part 
he  was  soon  to  play  in  events  that  would  shake  the  very 
foundation  of  the  nation. 

Still,  he  returned  to  Springfield  unhonored.  In  the  opin 
ion  of  his  constituency,  he  made  a  series  of  blunders.  His 
attitude  on  the  war  lost  the  district  to  the  Whig  party.  His 
"Spot  Resolutions"  had  become  a  by-word  in  the  community, 
they  were  liberally  satired  i«  song  and  story.  The  political 
career  of  Lincoln  had  seemingly  come  to  an  inglorious  con 
clusion. 
"Lamon,  334. 


CHAPTER    X 

THE    SCHOOL   OF   SOLITUDE 

UPON  his  return  from  Washington,  Abraham  Lincoln 
attended  to  a  growing  legal  practice.  He  apparently 
lost  his  interest  in  communal  matters,  having  tasted  the 
allurements  and  bitterness  of  public  service.  He  had  largely 
outgrown  the  passion  for  ordinary  official  distinction.  He 
was  ready  to  go  back  to  the  circuit  with  its  hardships  and 
rudeness.  To  win  renown  as  a  lawyer  now  seemed  his  sole 
ambition. 

Still  as  the  compromise  measures  of  1850  ended  another 
national  crisis,  he  readily  renewed  his  interest  in  the  march 
of  events.  A  loyal  Whig,  still,  he  acceded  to  the  Clay  and 
Webster  solution  of  the  perturbed  political  conditions  with 
some  misgiving.  He  poorly  tolerated  the  burdens  added  to 
the  yoke  of  the  fugitive  slave — the  premium  placed  upon 
bondage  rather  than  freedom.  During  this  stormy  period 
of  general  controversy,  in  his  lonely  way  he  settled  the  main 
issue.  A  story  told  by  a  close  friend  is  significant  of  the 
seriousness  of  the  struggle.  As  they  were  coming  down  a 
hill,  Herndon  said  to  Lincoln  that  the  time  was  coming  when 
they  should  all  have  to  be  either  Abolitionists  or  Democrats. 
Lincoln  thought  a  moment  and  then  answered  ruefully  that 
when  that  time  came  his  mind  would  be  made  up,  for  he  be 
lieved  the  slavery  question  could  never  be  successfully  com 
promised.1 

1  Herndon,  2,  31. 

152 


The  School  of  Solitude  153 

Though  zealous  for  action,  for  a  time,  he  was  in  the  gloom 
of  despair.  Most  men  were  lost  in  their  own  affairs.  The 
furtive  Abolitionist  raised  his  voice  as -in  a  wilderness.  The 
busy  world  took  mean  note  of  the  cry  of  anguished  slave. 
About  this  time  Herndon  states  that  Lincoln  was  speculating 
with  him  about  the  deadness  of  things,  and  deeply  regretted 
that  his  human  strength  was  limited  by  his  nature  to  rouse 
the  world,  and  despairingly  exclaimed  that  it  was  hard  to 
die  and  to  leave  one's  country  no  better  than  if  one  had 
never  lived  for  it.2  Here  is  again  communion  with  the  soul 
whose  thoughts  were  of  the  despised  and  the  lowly.  To 
Lamon  and  other  men  who  cannot  rise  to  kinship  with  him 
in  such  an  hour,  he  must  forever  remain  a  mystery.  It  is 
for  this  reason  that  some  who  were  near  him  seldom  com- 
prehendtd  the  extensiveness  of  his  symp'athy,  seldom  knew 
the  divinity  of  his  hopes,  and  his  surpassing  love  of  kind. 

Lincoln  was  a  stumbling  student  in  the  domain  of  eulogy. 
His  mind  scorned  fanciful  statement.  He  was  no  hero  wor 
shipper.  Washington,  alone,  remained  the  shrine  of  his 
homage.  He  mastered  indiscriminate  devotion  to  person  in 
his  loyalty  to  principle.  For  this  reason,  to  many,  he  seemed 
impassive  and  self  centered.  It  is  strange  that  the  man  so 
little  prone  to  adulation  should,  himself,  be  the  recipient  of 
almost  universal  adoration.  So  his  address  in  185$  on  the 
death  of  Clay  shows  little  of  the  devotional  element  Even 
in  the  shadow  of  the  grave  of  the  great  Compromiser,  there 
is  no  chant  of  an  admiring  friend — no  speech  leaping  from 
the  heart.  Lincoln  himself  felt  its  limitations.3  In  this 
address,  he  called  attention  to  the  striking  fact  that  Clay 
never  spoke  merely  to  be  heard,  that  his  eloquence  was 
always  directed  to  practical  action. 

It  is  only  when  Lincoln  approached  the  discussion  of  the 

a Lamon,  335.  "Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  171. 


154  Lincoln  the  Politician 

slavery  question  that  he  ceased  commonplace  commendation. 
He  gave  much  time  to  that  issue.  That  he  brooded  over  the 
solemn  statement  of  the  patriots  of  the  Republic  is  shown 
in  his  use  of  the  far-famed  utterance  of  Jefferson:  "I  had 
for  a  long  time  ceased  to  read  newspapers  or  to  pay  any 
attention  to  public  affairs,  confident  that  they  were  in  good 
hands  and  content  to  be  a  passenger  in  our  bark  to  the 
shore  from  which  I  am  not  distant.  But  this  momentous 
question,  like  a  fire-bell  in  the  night,  awakened  and  filled  me 
with  terror.  I  considered  it  at  once  as  the  knell  of  the  Union. 
It  is  hushed,  indeed,  for  a  moment.  But  this  is  a  reprieve 
only,  not  a  final  sentence.  A  geographical  line  coinciding 
with  a  marked  principle,  moral  and  political,  once  conceived 
and  held  up  to  the  angry  passions  of  men,  will  never  be  ob 
literated,  and  every  irritation  will  mark  it  deeper  and 
deeper."  4 

He  likewise  dwelt  on  the  exulting  protest  of  Clay  against 
the  enemies  of  liberty  and  ultimate  emancipation,  who  would 
go  back  to  the  era  of  our  liberty  and  independence  and 
muzzle  the  cannon  which  thunders  its  annual  joyous  return, 
who  would  blow  out  the  moral  light  and  penetrate  the  human 
soul,  and  eradicate  the  light  of  reason  and  the  love  of 
liberty.5 

We  learn  something  of  the  trend  of  his  thoughts  in  his 
discussion  of  the  colonization  proposal  of  Clay  that  there 
was  a  moral  fitness  in  the  idea  of  returning  to  Africa  her 
children,  whose  ancestors  had  been  torn  from  her  by  the 
ruthless  hand  of  fraud  and  violence,  who,  transplanted  in  a 
foreign  land,  would  carry  back  to  their  native  soil  the 
rich  fruits  of  religion,  civilization,  law  and  liberty.  Lincoln 
passes  this  benediction  on  the  plan :  "May  it  indeed  be  real 
ized.  Pharaoh's  country  was  cursed  with  plagues,  and  his 

4 Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  173.  "Ibid.,  175. 


The  School  of  Solitude  155 

hosts  were  lost  in  the  Red  Sea,  for  striving  to  retain  a  cap 
tive  people  who  had  already  served  them  more  than  four 
hundred  years.  May  like  disasters  never  befall  us!  If,  as 
the  friends  of  colonization  hope,  the  present  and  coming  gen 
erations  of  our  countrymen  shall  by  any  means  succeed  in 
freeing  our  land  from  the  dangerous  presence  of  slavery,  and 
at  the  same  time  in  restoring  a  captive  people  to  their  long- 
lost  fatherland  with  bright  prospects  for  the  future,  and  this 
too  so  gradually  that  neither  races  nor  individuals  shall  have 
suffered  by  the  change,  it  will  indeed  be  a  glorious  con 
summation." 

Lincoln  was  seeking  no  temporary  expedient.  He  saw 
that  abolitionism  was  only  a  step  in  the  problem,  that  beyond 
freedom  was  the  greater  question  that  still  terrifies  the  Union. 
Statesmanlike,  he  was  not  willing  merely  to  trifle  with  the 
casual  remedy.  Like  Clay,  he  would  have  put  an  end  to  the 
baffling  issue  by  an  operation  titanic  in  contemplation  and 
astounding  in  sweep.  So  this  eulogy  on  Clay  is  largely  a 
discussion  of  a  looming  problem  of  his  time,  a  safe  sign  that 
he  was  awake  to  the  gathering  storm. 

The  campaign  of  1852  was  colorless.  Both  parties  were 
arrayed  on  the  side  maintaining  the  sacredness  of  the  Com 
promise  Measures.  All  slavery  agitation  was  severely  depre 
cated.  While  the  South  feared  and  shunned  the  triumph  of 
the  Whig  party,  there  was  still  scant  surface  appearance-  of 
a  sectional  contest.  There  was  little  in  the  issues  involved 
to  awaken  moral  vitality.  Lincoln  took  no  glowing  part  in 
the  electoral  contest.  Lamon  declares  that  his  speeches  dur 
ing  the  campaign  were  coarse,  strained  in  humor,  petulant, 
unworthy  of  the  orator,  and  pervasive  with  jealousy  at  the 
success  of  his  rival — Douglas.7 

Though  Lincoln  was  sure  from  the  first,  of  the  sin  of 

•Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  176.  7 Lamon,  341. 


156  Lincoln  the  Politician 

slavery,  still,  even  at  this  period,  he  continued  in  conduct 
with  slow  paced  movement  as  if  half  afraid  of  being  ahead 
of  the  sweep  of  events.  Herndon  aided  in  helping  him  keep 
abreast  with  advanced  abolition  literature,  and  sought  to 
win  him  to  a  championship  of  the  radical  school.  Like 
Washington,  he  marked  out  his  own  path.  Neither  friend 
nor  foe  could  swerve  him,  hasten  or  check  his  advance. 
Broad-minded,  open  to  appeal,  no  man  was  less  influenceable 
in  final  judgment.  Herndon's  weighty  statement  confirms 
this  distinctiveness  of  Lincoln's  individuality.  "I  was  never 
conscious  of  having  made  this  impression  on  Mr.  Lincoln, 
nor  do  I  believe  I  ever  changed  his  views.  I  will  go  further 
and  say,  that,  from  the  profound  nature  of  his  conclusions 
and  the  labored  method  by  which  he  arrived  at  them,  no 
man  is  entitled  to  the  credit  of  having  either  changed  or 
greatly  modified  them."  8 

At  first,  he  began  in  his  office  in  plain  speech  to  comment 
upon  the  virulent  contest  between  freedom  and  slavery,  con 
tending  that  delay  was  intensifying  the  ultimate  clash,  that 
like  two  wild  beasts  in  sight  of  each  other,  but  chained  and 
held  apart,  the  deadly  antagonists  would  some  day  break 
their  bonds,  and  then  the  question  would  be  settled.9 

He  spoke  bitterly  of  the  attitude  of  the  judiciary,  the 
men  who  should  have  been  in  the  very  front  of  the  fight; 
who  seemed  more  zealous  of  the  right  of  property  than  that 
of  personal  liberty.  He  said  that  it  was  singular  that  the 
Courts  would  hold  that  a  man  never  lost  his  right  to  his 
property  that  has  been  stolen  from  him,  but  that  he  instantly 
lost  his  right  to  himself  if  he  was  stolen.10  Thus  his  mind 
moved  faster  than  public  sentiment,  and  thus  he  became 
prepared  for  decisive  action  before  the  culminating  Kansas 
and  Nebraska  affair  threw  the  North  into  commotion.  He 
8  Herndon,  2,  32.  °  Ibid.,  35.  10  Ibid.,  36 


The  School  of  Solitude  157 

seemed  the  barometer  of  the  national  conscience,  and  though 
his  slow  progress  appeared  painful  to  the  radical  yet  it  was 
genuine  and  far  more  remorseless  than  immature  reform. 
When  the  conservative  mind  of  Lincoln  was  stirred  to  action, 
it  was  a  definite  sign  of  progress.  He  saw  that  the  steady 
march  of  slavery  was  slowly  perverting  the  very  principles 
of  democracy,  that  it  was  a  challenge  to  the  integrity  of  the 
republic,  that  sooner  or  later  it  would  subvert  the  govern 
ment  or  be  subverted  by  the  government. 

He  noted  that  there  were  about  six  hundred  thousand 
men  non-slaveholding  whites  in  Kentucky  to  about  thirty- 
three  thousand  slave  holders ;  that  when  a  convention  recently 
assembled,  there  was  not  a  single  representative  of  the  non- 
slaveholding  class.  He  told  a  friend  that  the  thing  was 
spreading  like  wildfire  over  the  country  and  that  in  a  few 
years  Illinois  would  be  ready  to  accept  the  institution. 
When  asked  to  what  he  attributed  the  change  that  was  going 
on  in  public  opinion,  he  said  that  he  had  put  that  ques 
tion  to  a  Kentuckian  shortly  before,  who  answered  by  saying 
that  one  might  have  any  amount  of  land,  money  or  bank- 
stock,  and  while  travelling  around,  nobody  would  be  wiser ; 
but,  if  one  had  a  darky  trudging  at  his  heels,  everybody 
would  see  him,  and  know  that  he  owned  a  slave;  that  if  a 
young  man  went  courting,  the  only  inquiry  was,  how  many 
negroes  he  or  she  owned.  He  added,  that  the  love  for  slave 
property  was  swallowing  up  every  other  mercenary  posses 
sion;  that  its  ownership  betokened,  not  only  the  possession 
of  wealth,  but  indicated  the  gentleman  of  leisure,  who  was 
above  and  scorned  labor.11 

It  has  been  a  historical  fashion  to  brand  Douglas  as  the 
author  of  all  the  ills  that  came  in  the  course  of  the  Kansas- 
Nebraska  agitation.  He  has  suffered  more  than  any  other 

"Lamon,  347. 


158  Lincoln  the  Politician 

northern  leader  for  participation  therein.  He  did  not  in 
augurate;  he  reluctantly  adopted  radical  action  to  main 
tain  his  leadership  in  the  Democratic  party.  The  abolition 
ists  were  growing  more  resolute  and  exacting  in  their  de 
mands,  startling  the  northern  conscience.  No  compromise 
could  still  their  protests;  they  would  not  tolerate  constitu 
tional  obligations  that  stood  in  the  way  of  immediate  emanci 
pation.  At  the  South,  the  slave  dynasty  was  daily  growing 
more  restless  under  the  real  or  assumed  danger  from  northern 
agitation.  New  enactments  were  deemed  indispensable,  as  if 
legislation  could  stay  the  rising  tide  of  sentiment  against 
the  return  of  fugitive  slaves.  The  South  was,  under  the  edu 
cational  tutelage  of  Calhoun,  prepared  to  demand  the  right 
to  carry  slaves  throughout  every  inch  of  the  national  terri 
tory  without  restraint  from  Congress. 

Compromise  could  delay  but  not  settle  such  a  contest. 
When  moral  instincts  were  aroused  on  one  side  and  fear  on 
the  other,  the  inevitable  clash  could  not  be  permanently 
avoided.  Dixon  of  Kentucky,  through  his  far-reaching  state 
ment  upon  the  question  of  slavery  he  knew  no  "Whiggery" 
and  no  Democracy,12  decisively  noted  the  new  era  in  Ameri 
can  politics,  and  showed  the  desperate  chasm  that  daily  grew 
more  divisive,  not  to  be  covered  over  until  the  blood  of  a 
million  men  was  offered  up  as  a  sacrifice  to  the  most  mo 
mentous  martyrdom  in  history.  Atchison  of  Missouri,  who 
declared  he  would  sacrifice  everything  but  his  hope  of  heaven 
for  slavery,13  was  anxious  for  the  place  of  Douglas  that  he 
might  champion  the  legislation  that  would  secure  the  repeal 
of  the  Missouri  Compromise.  To  gain  this  position,  he  would 
relinquish  his  distinction  as  Acting  President  pro  tern  of 
the  Senate. 

For  twenty  years,  Douglas  had  fought  in  the  party  ranks 
12  Greeley,  1,  229.  18  Nicolay  &  Hay,  1,  346. 


The  School  of  Solitude  159 

until  he  stood  fair  to  become  its  leader.  He  had  either  to 
become  champion  of  the  new  policy,  or  as  he  saw  it,  to  sac 
rifice  the  work  of  a  lifetime.  In  the  party  councils  he  con 
tested  the  wisdom  of  the  policy  and  eloquently  portrayed  its 
far-reaching  consequences.  He  loved  his  country  but  not  all 
of  his  kind.  Patriot  but  not  humanitarian,  he  would  not 
peer  behind  the  curtain  of  a  clashing  North  and  South.  The 
nature  of  the  bitter  conflict  through  which  Douglas  passed 
before  he  submitted  to  the  southern  policy,  appears  from 
his  counsel  to  a  young  student  and  friend  never  to  go  into 
politics ;  that  if  he  did,  no  matter  how  clear  it  might  be  to  him 
that  the  present  was  an  inheritance  from  the  past,  no  mat 
ter  how  conscientiously  he  might  feel  that  his  hands  were 
tied,  with  loyalty  to  ancient  institutions  rather  than  what 
he  might  prefer  to  do  if  free  to  choose,  still  he  would  be 
vilified,  traduced,  and  finally  sacrificed  to  some  local  interest 
or  unreasoning  passion  like  Adams,  Webster  and  Clay.  He 
continued  that  he  was  surprised  that  the  proposal  to  repeal 
came  from  the  South  and  dreaded  the  effect,  and  said  so; 
still  for  nearly  twenty  years  he  had  fought  for  a  place 
among  the  leaders  of  the  party  which  seemed  to  him  most 
likely  to  promote  the  prosperity  of  his  country,  and  had 
won  it.  ...  If  he  retained  his  leadership,  he  argued  that 
he  might  help  to  guide  the  party  aright  in  some  graver  crisis, 
and  if  he  threw  it  away,  he  not  only  destroyed  himself,  but 
he  became  powerless  for  good  forever  after. 

He  then  impetuously  contended  that  an  individual  ought 
not  to  oppose  his  judgment  to  that  of  a  great  party,  and 
besides  though  surprised  at  its  source,  he  believed  that  the 
repeal  would  work  to  the  advancement  of  freedom  rather 
than  otherwise,  as  his  vilifiers  charged.  He  finally  pleaded 
that  he  was  politically  right  in  keeping  within  the  pale  of 
the  Constitution ;  and  right  as  to  the  moral  effect,  and  right 


160  Lmcoln  the  Politician 

as  a  party  leader  anxious  to  help  in  keeping  his  party  true 
to  the  whole  country.14  Thus  Douglas  made  his  way  to  the 
sons  of  the  South  and  became  the  father  of  the  Nebraska 
controversy  and  of  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise. 

Douglas  had  not  trained  himself  in  the  school  of  political 
defeat  and  hesitated  to  forego  his  prestige  of  leadership. 
To  gain  the  South,  he  risked  his  hold  on  the  North.  Had  he 
had  the  courage  to  dare,  the  wisdom  to  know,  the  moral  hero 
ism  to  do,  he  might  have  become  the  foremost  personality 
in  American  politics,  honoring  instead  of  shadowing  the  his 
tory  of  his  time.  In  a  solemn  moment  he  took  counsel  of  his 
fears  rather  than  his  integrity,  and  doubted  the  triumph  of 
the  one  cause  that  has  revolutionized  history.  With  all  his 
political  sagacity,  he  lacked  the  supreme  instinct  that  tran 
scends  the  shrewdness  of  the  day  and  links  itself  to  the  final 
triumphing  movement. 

During  the  spring  and  summer  of  1854  when  the  whole 
North  quivered  with  the  hurrying  march  of  events  following 
the  Nebraska  agitation,  and  thundered  its  protests  into 
Washington,  Lincoln  grew  to  the  demands  of  the  hour  with 
his  wonted  sureness.  He  turned  over  and  over  the  whole 
issue.  He  did  not  halt  at  the  injustice  of  the  repeal  of  the 
Missouri  Compromise,  but  went  beyond  its  consideration  to 
the  problems  of  the  age,  of  which  that  act  was  only  a  grave 
symptom. 

Now  and  then  in  small  meetings,  he  spoke  out  of  the  full 
ness  of  his  feelings.  His  friends  scanned  a  strange  change. 
Coming  to  listen  to  his  quaint  stories,  they  returned,  exalted 
by  hearing  a  speaker  who  raised  the  controversy  above  the 
shifting  events  of  the  hour  to  the  broad  tableland  where 
right  and  wrong  meet  on  the  field  of  battle.  They  beheld  a 
man  who  lifted  the  discussion  into  the  pure  realms  of  eternal 
"Illinois  State  Historical  Society,  IV.  49. 


The  School  of  Solitude  161 

justice,  above  all  questions  of  policy,  into  the  arena  of  the 
higher  humanity.  Prejudices  of  a  lifetime  trembled  in  the 
balance.  Men  were  baptised  with  a  new  political  faith. 
They  instinctively  turned  to  the  master  and  yielded,  to  the 
power  of  a  personality  speaking  in  the  name  of  immortal 
righteousness.  He  was  no  longer  in  his  former  haunts,  the 
tavern  or  the  grocery.  He  was  seen  "mousing"  around 
libraries.  He  was  communing  with  the  Fathers  of  the  Re 
public,  seeking  wisdom  from  them. 

These  five  years  following  his  Congressional  experience 
are  noteworthy  in  his  life,  though  scantily  known.  Now 
and  then  a  chance  remark,  the  eulogy  on  Clay,  a  letter  to  a 
friend,  reveal  a  strong  man  struggling  with  a  giant  problem. 
During  all  this  time,  he  was  thinking  out  the  portentous 
question  that  was  agitating  a  tempest.  The  greatest  con 
tests  of  the  world  are  not  fought  on  the  battlefield,  in  the 
presence  of  vast  armies,  when  the  drum  beats  or  the  bugle 
calls  to  action.  The  sublimest  battles  in  history  are  waged 
in  the  lonely  soul.  There,  the  destiny  of  nations  is  deter 
mined  before  its  formal  expression  in  legislative  discussion, 
judicial  decision  or  national  controversy. 

The  grasping  disposition  of  slavery  convinced  Lincoln 
that  the  encounter  was  inevitable.  Before  the  formation  of 
the  Republican  party,  he  sanctioned  the  statement  that  the 
time  was  approaching  when  it  would  be  necessary  to  take  a 
determined  stand  either  for  or  against  slavery.  During  this 
period,  he  waited  and  bided  his  time ;  all  these  years  he  saw 
with  joy,  clouded  with  occasional  despair,  the  day  approach 
ing  when  another  blow  could  be  struck  for  freedom,  for  the 
principles  of  the  fathers  and  for  the  spreading  of  democratic 
influence.  These  were  splendid  years  of  preparation. 


CHAPTER    XI 

AN    EMANCIPATED    POLITICIAN 

THE  indignation  that  rushed  through  Illinois  when  the 
first  news  from  the  Capitol  forecast  the  repeal  of  the 
Missouri  Compromise  had  not  yet  abated,  when  Douglas 
dauntlessly  sought  to  explain  his  course  of  conduct  in  Chi 
cago.  He  was  howled  down  and  denied  liberty  of  speech. 
This  naturally  brought  on  a  reaction.  The  contention  that 
the  distinguished  senator  had  been  struck  before  being  heard, 
added  martyrdom  to  his  bold  conduct. 

As  he  wandered  down  the  State  closer  to  the  home  of 
ardent  democracy,  he  was  met  with  growing  enthusiasm.  His 
ingenious  sophistry  turned  popular  sovereignty  into  a  seem 
ing  contest  for  a  principle  and  Illinois  was  being  carried 
away  by  his  triumphant  oratory  and  logic.  There  is  little 
wonder  that  the  man  who  breasted  the  storm  of  debate  in 
the  Senate  should  make  headway  in  the  land  of  his  friends 
where  office  holders  and  supporters  gloried  in  his  fame  and 
were  elated  when  he  chanted  forth  his  alluring  doctrine  as  a 
solution  to  political  conditions. 

His  main  effort  was  made  at  the  State  Fair  in  October, 
1854,  an  occasion  that  called  together  the  intelligence  of 
Illinois  in  days  when  few  occasions  permitted  the  satisfac 
tion  of  social  life.  Enhancing  its  importance,  this  political 
gathering  was  to  mark  the  opening  of  the  campaign  to  deter 
mine  the  selection  of  a  Senator.  The  speech  of  Douglas  was 
to  be  almost  a  national  event.  Upon  him  the  hopes  of  the 

162 


An  Emancipated  Politician  163 

State  democracy  centered  in  the  conditions  following  the  late 
political  tempest.  Douglas  was  equal  to  the  occasion  and 
his  friends  rejoiced. 

Lincoln  had  made  such  a  profound  impression  at  the  time 
among  the  Whig  orators,  that  he  was  chosen  to  bear  the 
hrunt  of  the  reply  to  the  "State  F.iir  Speech"  of  the  wily 
leader  of  the  Democratic  party.  Lincoln  surpassed  every 
expectation.  Neither  side  was  prepared  for  the  terrible  on 
slaught.  A  new  and  dauntless  advocate  appeared  giving 
power  to  the  gathering  protesting  elements  against  the  ag 
gressive  championship  of  Douglas.  Herndon,  himself,  was 
thoroughly  amazed,  and  tells  us  that  the  speaker  quivered 
with  emotion,  that  he  felt  upon  his  soul  the  truths  burn 
which  he  uttered,  that  crushing  with  his  logic  the  Nebraska 
bill  he  rent  it  into  shreds  and  held  it  up  to  the  scorn  and  the 
mockery  of  the  crowds,  that  he  took  the  heart  captive 
and  broke  like  a  sun  over  the  understanding.1  In  his 
reply  Douglas  was  excited,  and  his  voice  loud  and  shrill. 
Lamon  relates  that  shaking  his  forefinger  at  the  democratic 
malcontents,  and  declaiming  rather  than  debating,  he  occu 
pied  to  little  purpose  the  brief  interval  remaining  until  the 
adjournment  for  supper;  that  then,  promising  to  resume  his 
address  in  the  evening,  he  went  his  way,  and  evening  came 
but  not  the  orator.2 

While  Lincoln  was  moving  in  the  moral  realm,  still,  at 
this  very  time,  note  must  be  taken  of  the  politician  in  the 
valley.  The  enthusiasm  that  followed  his  baptismal  oration 
had  not  calmed  when  Lovejoy  announced  a  gathering  that 
evening  of  the  friends  of  freedom.  The  Nebraska  move 
ment  fed  the  Abolitionists  with  abounding  faith  in  a  speedy 
triumph.  With  a  rising  sense  of  their  strength,  fairly 
"snuffing"  the  coming  victory  they  looked  for,  Lovejoy  and 
1  Herndon,  2,  37-8.  3  Lamon,  349-350. 


164  Lincoln  the  Politician 

his  associates  hastened  to  command  Lincoln's  attendance  at 
their  meeting.  Herndon  vividly  describes  the  occasion,  say 
ing  that  their  plan  was  to  induce  Lincoln  to  speak  for  them, 
yet  he  doubted  the  propriety  of  Lincoln's  taking  any  stand 
yet.  Lincoln  was  ambitious  to  climb  to  the  United  States 
Senate,  and  on  grounds  of  policy  it  would  not  do  for  him 
to  occupy  at  that  time  such  advance  ground  as  they  were 
taking.  On  the  other  hand,  it  was  equally  dangerous  to 
refuse  a  speech  for  the  Abolitionists.  Herndon  then  hunted 
up  Lincoln  and  urged  him  to  avoid  meeting  the  enthusiastic 
champion  of  Abolitionism.  "Go  home  at  once,"  he  said. 
"Take  Bob  with  you  and  drive  somewhere  into  the  country 
and  stay  till  this  thing  is  over."  Lincoln  under  the  pre 
tense  of  having  business  in  Tazewell  County  drove  out  of 
town  in  his  buggy,  and  did  not  return  until  the  apostles  of 
Abolitionism  had  gone  to  their  homes.  Herndon  believes 
that  this  arrangement  saved  Lincoln,  for  if  he  had  endorsed 
the  resolutions  passed  at  the  meeting,  or  spoken  simply  in 
favor  of  freedom  that  night,  he  would  have  been  identified 
with  all  the  rancor  and  extremes  of  Abolitionism,  and  if, 
on  the  contrary,  he  refused  to  take  a  position  as  advanced 
as  theirs,  he  would  have  lost  their  support.3 

Another  incident  told  by  the  same  writer  makes  it  neces 
sary  ever  to  keep  track  of  Lincoln,  the  wary  politician: 
"One  day  I  read  in  the  Richmond  Enquirer  an  article  en 
dorsing  slavery,  and  arguing  that  from  principle  the  enslave 
ment  of  either  whites  or  blacks  was  justifiable  and  right.  I 
showed  it  to  Lincoln,  who  remarked  that  it  was  'rather  rank 
doctrine  for  northern  Democrats  to  endorse.  I  should  like 
to  see,'  he  said,  with  emphasis  'some  of  these  Illinois  news 
papers  champion  that.'  I  told  him  if  he  would  only  wait  and 
keep  his  own  counsel  I  would  have  a  pro-slavery  organ  in 
8  Herndon,  2,  40-41. 


An  Emancipated  Politician  165 

Springfield  publish  that  very  article.  He  doubted  it,  but 
when  I  told  him  how  it  was  to  be  done,  he  laughed  and  said, 
'Go  in.'  I  cut  the  slip  out  and  succeeded  in  getting  it  in 
the  paper  named.  Of  course  it  was  a  trick  but  it  acted 
admirably.  Its  appearance  in  the  new  organ,  although  with 
out  comment,  almost  ruined  that  valuable  journal,  and  my 
good  natured  friend  the  editor  was  nearly  overcome  by  the 
denunciation  of  those  who  were  responsible  for  the  organ's 
existence.  My  connection  and  Lincoln's  too, — for  he  en 
dorsed  the  trick, — with  the  publication  of  the  condemned 
article  was  eventually  discovered,  and  we  were  thereafter 
effectually  prevented  from  getting  another  line  in  the  paper. 
The  anti-slavery  people  quoted  the  article  as  having  been 
endorsed  by  a  democratic  newspaper  in  Springfield  and  Lin 
coln  himself  used  it  with  telling  effect.  He  joined  in  the 
popular  denunciation,  expressing  great  astonishment  that 
such  a  sentiment  could  find  lodgment  in  any  paper  in  Illinois, 
although  he  knew  full  well  how  the  whole  thing  had  been 
carried  through."  4 

Lincoln  was  alive  to  the  best  methods  of  persuasion.  He 
knew  that  men  were  the  children  of  emotion  and  that  while 
many  would  be  calloused  to  the  slavery  of  the  black  man, 
nothing  would  arouse  the  North  quicker  than  this  doctrine 
of  the  bondage  of  the  white  man.  While  slavery  was  making 
every  effort  to  fasten  its  fangs  on  the  nation,  Lincoln  was 
not  averse  to  take  advantage  of  a  shrewd  move  to  strike 
heavy  blows  at  the  potent  institution. 

He  entered  deeply  into  the  contest.  Lincoln  knew  that 
it  involved  the  painful  rending  of  party  allegiance.  His 
letter  to  Palmer  sheds  light  on  the  intensity  of  the  struggle, 
the  heroism  of  the  democratic  minority  whose  loyalty  to 
country  and  righteousness  surpassed  a  deep-seated  partisan- 

4  Herndon,  2,  39-40. 


166  Lmcoln  the  Politician 

ship:  "You  are,"  he  said,  "and  always  have  been,  honestly 
and  sincerely  a  Democrat;  and  I  know  how  painful  it  must 
be  to  an  honest  sincere  man  to  be  urged  by  his  party  to  the 
support  of  a  measure,  which  in  his  conscience  he  believes  to  be 
wrong.  You  have  had  a  severe  struggle  with  yourself,  and 
you  have  determined  not  to  swallow  the  wrong.  Is  it  just 
to  yourself  that  you  should,  in  a  few  public  speeches,  state 
your  reasons,  and  thus  justify  yourself?  I  wish  you  could; 
and  yet  I  say,  'Don't  do  it  if  you  think  it  will  injure  you.'  "  5 

Lincoln  recognized  that  political  progress  is  not  alone  the 
result  of  intellectual  supremacy ;  that  it  is  a  painful  struggle ; 
that  policy  must  be  mingled  with  principle ;  that  the  world 
does  not  welcome  the  unadulterated  gospel ;  that  through  the 
centuries,  humanity  has  groped  its  way  to  the  far  light 
with  eyes  blinded  by  the  superstition  of  ages  and  selfishness. 

The  moral  prophet  is  seldom  the  political  leader  of  his 
time.  He  stands  above  his  age.  The  politician  is  part  of  it. 
One  sees  things  as  they  should  be,  the  other  as  they  are. 
One  is  splendidly  indifferent  to  results,  the  other  keenly  ap 
preciative  of  them.  Lincoln  made  no  false  step.  Had  he 
walked  too  fast  for  his  day  he  might  have  been  the  Garrison 
of  the  West,  but  not  the  party  guide.  With  sure  instinct 
he  felt  that  the  time  was  not  ripe  for  companionship  with 
the  Abolitionists.  Illinois  was  not  ready.  If  he  was  to  con 
tinue  his  hold  on  public  sentiment,  to  guide  it,  he  could  not 
flash  the  truth  before  the  gaze  of  humanity.  Despite  the 
suffering  of  martyrs,  the  heroism  of  statesmen,  the  sacrifices 
of  seekers  of  the  truth,  wrong  was  still  "upon  the  throne," 
and  "truth  upon  the  scaffold,"  the  world  was  not  slow  in 
crucifying  its  heroes  of  speech  and  deed.  Lincoln  recog 
nized  the  weaknesses  of  men,  the  shortcomings  of  human 
nature,  the  superstition  of  centuries.  He  was  content  with 

"Tarbell,  1,  275. 


An  Emancipated  Politician  167 

slow  progress,  uncowed  by  disappointment,  and  realized  that 
the  grumbling  world  emancipated  its  heart  and  mind  slowly. 

Under  the  spell  of  the  State  Fair  speech,  Whig  leaders 
earnestly  besought  Lincoln  to  follow  Douglas  up  until  elec 
tion.6  So  again  at  Peoria,  Lincoln  broke  forth  in  impas 
sioned  utterances  that  took  captive  the  judgment.  His  logic 
throbbed  with  passion  for  freedom,  for  liberty  and  emanci 
pation.  He  lifted  his  hearers  above  the  jangling  of  everyday 
life,  above  the  mists  of  hate,  of  jealousy,  of  selfishness,  into 
a  region  of  the  brotherhood  of  man.  Unlike  his  speech  at 
Springfield,  this  was  written  out.  It  demonstrates  that  his 
supremacy  among  the  eminent  leaders  of  Illinois  was  not  a 
matter  of  the  choice  of  the  hour. 

With  marvelous  power  of  directness,  he  plotted  out  the 
line  of  discussion.  He  made  much  of  the  fact  that  the 
Fathers  of  the  Republic  regarded  slavery  as  an  evil  worthy 
of  restriction  and  looked  forward  to  the  day  of  its  ultimate 
abolition,  saying  that  as  the  subject  was  no  other  than  part 
of  the  larger  question  of  domestic  slavery,  he  wished  to  make 
the  distinction  between  the  existing  institution  and  the  ex 
tension  of  it  so  clear  that  no  honest  man  could  misunder 
stand  him,  and  no  dishonest  man  could  successfully  mis 
represent  him.7 

With  telling  effect  he  quoted  the  words  of  Douglas  himself 
as  to  the  sincere  observance  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  that 
put  a  barrier  in  the  way  of  the  progress  of  slavery:  "It 
had  its  origin,"  said  Douglas,  "in  the  hearts  of  all  patriotic 
men,  who  desired  to  preserve  and  perpetuate  the  blessings  of 
our  glorious  Union — an  origin  akin  to  that  of  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States,  conceived  in  the  same  spirit  of 
fraternal  affection,  and  calculated  to  remove  forever  the 
only  danger  which  seemed  to  threaten,  at  some  distant  day, 
"Lamon,  354.  7  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  181, 


168  Lincoln  the  Politician 

to  sever  the  social  bond  of  Union.  All  the  evidences  of  pub 
lic  opinion  of  that  day  seemed  to  indicate  that  this  Com 
promise  had  been  canonized  in  the  hearts  of  the  American 
people,  as  a  sacred  thing  which  no  ruthless  hand  would  ever 
be  reckless  enough  to  disturb."  His  comment  on  this  un 
answerable  statement  of  Douglas  is  significant  of  the  nature 
of  Lincoln's  peculiar  fairness  and  consequent  strength.  Lin 
coln  said  that  he  did  not  read  the  extract  to  involve  Judge 
Douglas  in  an  inconsistency,  for  if  he  afterward  thought  he 
was  wrong,  it  was  right  for  him  to  change,  but  he  brought 
it  forward  merely  to  show  the  high  estimate  placed  on  the 
Missouri  Compromise  by  all  parties  up  to  so  late  as  the  year 
1849.9 

In  the  North  and  South  passion  had  unloosed  its  tongue 
and  crimination  and  recrimination  were  daily  becoming 
steady  servants  in  debate  and  discussion  on  the  slavery  ques 
tion.  With  it  all,  Lincoln  calmly  sat  in  judgment. 

"Before  proceeding  let  me  say  that  I  think  I  have  no  preju 
dices  against  the  Southern  people.  They  are  just  what  we 
would  be  in  their  situation.  If  slavery  did  not  now  exist 
between  them,  they  would  not  introduce  it.  If  it  did  now 
exist  among  us,  we  should  not  instantly  give  it  up.  This  I 
believe  of  the  masses  North  and  South.  .  .  .  When  Southern 
people  tell  us  they  are  no  more  responsible  for  the  origin  of 
slavery  than  we  are,  I  acknowledge  the  fact.  When  it  is 
said  that  the  institution  exists,  and  that  it  is  very  difficult 
to  get  rid  of  it  in  any  satisfactory  way,  I  can  understand 
and  appreciate  the  same.  I  surely  will  not  blame  them  for 
not  doing  what  I  should  not  know  how  to  do  myself.  If  all 
earthly  power  were  given  me,  I  should  not  know  what  to  do 
as  to  the  existing  institution.  My  first  impulse  would  be  to 
free  all  the  slaves,  and  send  them  to  Liberia,  to  their  own  na- 

8  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  184.  9  Ibid, 


An  Emancipated  Politician  169 

tive  land.  But  a  moment's  reflection  would  convince  me  that 
whatever  of  high  hope  (as  I  think  there  is)  there  may  be  in 
this  in  the  long  run,  its  sudden  execution  is  impossible — 
what  then?  Free  them  all,  and  keep  them  among  us  as 
underlings?  Is  it  quite  certain  that  this  betters  their  con 
dition?  I  think  I  would  not  hold  one  in  slavery  at  any  rate, 
yet  the  point  is  not  clear  enough  for  me  to  denounce  people 
upon.  What  next?  Free  them  and  make  them  politically 
and  socially  our  equals?  My  own  feelings  will  not  admit  of 
this,  and  if  mine  would,  we  well  know  that  those  of  the  great 
mass  of  whites  will  not.  Whether  this  feeling  accords  with 
justice  and  sound  judgment  is  not  the  sole  question,  if  indeed 
it  is  any  part  of  it.  A  universal  feeling,  whether  well  or  ill 
founded,  cannot  be  safely  disregarded.  We  cannot  make 
them  equals.  It  does  seem  to  me  that  systems  of  gradual 
emancipation  might  be  adopted,  but  for  their  tardiness  in 
this  I  will  not  undertake  to  judge  our  brethren  of  the 
South. 

"When  they  remind  us  of  their  constitutional  rights,  I 
acknowledge  them — not  grudgingly,  but  fully  and  fairly ;  and 
I  would  give  them  any  legislation  for  the  reclaiming  of  their 
fugitives  which  should  not  in  its  stringency  be  more  likely 
to  carry  a  free  man  into  slavery  than  our  ordinary  criminal 
laws  are  to  hang  an  innocent  one. 

"But  all  this,  to  my  judgment,  furnishes  no  more  excuse 
for  permitting  slavery  to  go  into  our  free  territory  than  it 
would  for  reviving  the  African  slave-trade  by  law.  The 
law  which  forbids  the  bringing  of  slaves  from  Africa,  and 
that  which  has  so  long  forbidden  the  taking  of  them  into 
Nebraska,  can  hardly  be  distinguished  on  any  moral  prin 
ciple,  and  the  repeal  of  the  former  could  find  quite  as  plaus 
ible  excuses  as  that  of  the  latter."  10 

10  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  186-187. 


170  Lincoln  the  Politician 

In  the  domain  of  literature  on  the  slavery  question  there 
is  no  statement  that  surpasses  this  in  charity,  sanity  and 
wisdom.  With  his  overflowing  hatred  to  slavery,  he  still  kept 
justice  as  his  guide  and  was  slow  to  blame  the  South  for 
the  long  standing  sin.  In  this  he  towers  above  the  Aboli 
tionists  who  put  upon  the  slave  holders  the  burdens  of  a 
past  as  well  as  a  present  wrong.  Yet  unlike  the  politician 
he  did  not  lose  his  ideal  and  become  palsied  and  apologetic. 
He  saw  the  need  of  keeping  alive  the  principles  of  the  Re 
public.  Hastening  the  coming  of  the  better  humanity,  with 
patience  for  human  shortcoming,  with  zeal  for  the  triumph  of 
emancipation,  he  continued  in  his  peculiar,  lonely  and  potent 
way  the  advocacy  of  justice  to  God's  dusky  children. 

In  the  Senate  Douglas  with  triumphant  eloquence  charged 
Seward  and  Sumner  and  the  North  with  having  repudiated 
the  Missouri  Compromise  through  the  Wilmot  Proviso  and 
the  measures  of  1850.  Anti-slavery  leaders  in  the  Senate 
were  confounded  by  this  sudden  charge  and  grandiloquent 
accusation.  Lincoln  took  up  the  challenge  and  met  the 
arrogant  claim  of  Douglas  without  flinching.  His  analysis 
exposed  the  glittering  sophistry  of  the  man  who  enraptured 
the  Northern  statesmen  in  the  solemn  Senate.  He  not  only 
held  his  ground  in  the  face  of  the  brilliant  strategy  of  his 
opponent,  but  even  carried  the  war  into  the  camp  of  the  foe. 

He  argued  that  the  contention  of  Douglas  that  the  North 
repudiated  the  Missouri  Compromise  was  no  less  absurd  than 
it  would  be  to  argue  that  because  they  had  so  far  forborne 
to  acquire  Cuba,  they  would  have  thereby,  in  principle,  re 
pudiated  former  acquisitions  and  determined  to  throw  them 
out  of  the  Union;  that  it  was  no  less  absurd  than  it  would 
be  to  say  that  because  he  may  have  refused  to  build  an 
addition  to  his  house,  he  thereby  decided  to  destroy  the 
existing  house. 


An  Emancipated  Politician  171 

This  speech  abounds  in  plain,  hard  English,  travelling 
direct  to  the  intellect  on  a  straight  line.  No  labored  argu 
ment  could  be  half  as  sure  of  a  welcome  to  the  human  mind 
as  his  graphic  exposal  of  the  injustice  of  the  repeal  of  the 
Missouri  Compromise :  "After  an  angry  and  dangerous  con 
troversy,  the  parties  made  friends  by  dividing  the  bone  of 
contention.  The  one  party  first  appropriates  its  own  share, 
beyond  all  power  to  be  disturbed  in  the  possession  of  it,  and 
then  seizes  the  share  of  the  other  party.  It  is  as  if  two 
starving  men  had  divided  their  own  loaf ;  the  one  had  hastily 
swallowed  his  half,  and  then  grabbed  the  other's  half  just 
as  he  was  putting  it  to  his  mouth." 

In  nothing  did  Douglas  show  greater  genius  than  in  hal 
lowing  his  doctrine  of  popular  sovereignty.  The  leaders  in 
Congress  feared  openly  to  fight  his  vaunted  "sacred  right  of 
self  government,"  they  were  not  sure  of  their  ground.  Lin 
coln  with  confidence,  born  of  lonely  struggle,  rushed  on  the 
angry  battlefield  to  run  the  gantlet  of  debate  on  the  con 
quering  doctrine  of  popular  sovereignty:  "When  the  white 
man,"  he  said,  "governs  himself,  that  is  self-government, 
but  when  he  governs  himself  and  also  governs  another  man, 
that  is  more  than  self  government — that  is  despotism.  If  the 
negro  is  a  man,  why  then  my  ancient  faith  teaches  me  that 
'all  men  are  created  equal,'  and  that  there  can  be  no  moral 
right  in  connection  with  one  man's  making  a  slave  of  an 
other. 

"Judge  Douglas  frequently,  with  bitter  irony  and  sar 
casm,  paraphrases  our  argument  by  saying:  'The  white  peo 
ple  of  Nebraska  are  good  enough  to  govern  themselves,  but 
they  are  not  good  enough  to  govern  a  few  miserable  negroes !' 
Well!  I  doubt  not  that  the  people  of  Nebraska  are  and  will 
continue  to  be  as  good  as  the  average  of  people  elsewhere. 
"Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  192. 


Lincoln  the  Politician 

I  do  not  say  the  contrary.  What  I  do  say  is  that  no  man 
is  good  enough  to  govern  another  man  without  that  other's 
consent."  12  In  a  single  weighty  phrase  he  crushed  the  elab 
orate  argument  of  the  Senator  of  Illinois  and  left  its  fair 
form  so  that  only  a  shattered  frame  remains. 

At  times  he  spoke  like  a  seer  lifted  above  the  petty  preju 
dices  of  the  time.  He  declared  that  the  spirit  of  mutual  con 
cession — that  first  wrought  the  Constitution,  and  thrice  saved 
the  Union — and  that  trust  in  a  national  compromise,  would 
thus  be  strangled;  that  the  South  flushed  with  triumph 
would  provoke  and  aggress,  and  the  North,  brooding  on 
wrong,  would  resent  and  retaliate.  He  alleged  that  already  a 
few  in  the  North  defied  all  constitutional  restraint,  and  even 
menaced  the  institution  of  slavery  in  the  southern  States ; 
that  already  a  few  in  the  South  claimed  the  constitutional 
right  to  hold  slaves  in  the  free  States  and  demanded  the  re 
vival  of  the  slave  trade.  That  it  was  a  grave  question  for 
lovers  of  the  Union  whether  the  final  destruction  of  the 
Missouri  Compromise,  and  with  it  the  spirit  of  all  compro 
mise,  would  not  fatally  increase  the  number  of  both.13 

His  sanity  enabled  him  to  guide  the  erring  and  confounded 
in  the  days  of  doubt.  "Some  men,"  he  said,  "mostly  Whigs, 
who  condemn  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  never 
theless  hesitate  to  go  for  its  restoration,  lest  they  be  thrown 
in  company  with  the  Abolitionists.  Will  they  allow  me,  as 
an  old  Whig,  to  tell  them,  good  humoredly,  that  I  think 
this  is  very  silly?  Stand  with  anybody  that  stands  right. 
Stand  with  him  while  he  is  right,  and  part  with  him  when 
he  goes  wrong.  Stand  with  the  Abolitionists  in  restoring 
the  Missouri  Compromise,  and  stand  against  him  when  he 
attempts  to  repeal  the  fugitive  slave  law.  In  the  latter  case 
you  stand  with  the  Southern  disunionist.  What  of  that? 

"Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  195.  "Ibid.,  201. 


An  Emancipated  Politician  173 

You  are  still  right.  In  both  cases  you  are  right.  In  both 
cases  you  expose  the  dangerous  extremes.  In  both  you  stand 
on  middle  ground,  and  hold  the  ship  level  and  steady." 

Above  all,  this  speech  will  live  for  its  moral  intensity, 
hatred  of  injustice  and  hunger  for  righteousness.  Through 
out  this  long  appeal  and  uniting  its  links  of  logic  is  an  over 
powering  and  pervasive  sentiment  of  the  highest  humanity. 
Now  and  then  an  outburst  against  oppression  comes  forth 
resistlessly,  yet  in  the  company  of  a  sober  expression,  logical 
intensity  and  a  broad  outlook  peculiar  to  him.  These  rival 
the  most  impassioned  utterances  of  Phillips  and  Garrison. 
Like  O'Connell,  he  sent  his  voice  "careering  like  the  thunder 
storm  against  the  breeze,  to  tell  the  slaveholders  of  the  Caro- 
linas  that  God's  thunderbolts  are  hot,  and  to  remind  the 
bondman  that  the  dawn  of  his  redemption  is  already  break- 
ing."  » 

With  elation  he  passed  from  the  sordidness  and  the  tur 
moil  of  the  courtroom  and  daily  pettiness  of  common  political 
controversy  to  the  championship  of  an  all-mastering  prin 
ciple.  He  fed  the  "parched  souls  of  men  with  celestial  ano 
dyne,"  with  visions  of  a  new  and  nobler  era  of  humanity. 
He  made  the  humblest  voter  a  public  participant  in  the  high 
service  of  ridding  the  nation  of  the  shame  of  slavery.  He 
was  educating  American  democracy  to  practice  the  principles 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  restoring  to  life  seem 
ingly  dead  doctrines  of  the  fathers.  Better  than  a  course  in 
ethics  was  the  uplift  of  his  utterances,  the  call  to  higher 
attitudes. 

He  declared  his  hate  in  ringing  words,  of  the  indifference 
to,  if  not  covert  zeal  for,  the  spread  of  slavery,  of  depriving 
the  Republic  of  its  just  influence  in  the  world,  of  enabling 
the  enemies  of  Democracy  to  engage  in  the  taunt  of  hypoc- 

14  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  202.  15Martyn's  Wendell  Phillips,  136. 


Lincoln  the  Politician 

risy,  of  forcing  so  many  men  into  open  war  with  the  funda 
mental  principles  of  civil  liberty,  criticising  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  and  insisting  that  there  was  no  right  prin 
ciple  but  self  interest.16 

In  measured  language  befitting  his  solemn  theme,  Lincoln 
continued  his  prophetic  condemnation  of  slavery,  charging 
that,  steadily  as  man's  march  to  the  grave,  the  people  were 
giving  up  the  old  for  the  new  faith ;  that  they  had  run  down 
from  the  declaration  that  all  men  were  created  equal  to  the 
declaration  that  the  enslavement  of  some  was  a  sacred  right 
of  self  government.  He  dwelt  upon  the  statement  of  Pettit 
that  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  a  "self  evident  lie" 
and  said  that  Pettit  did  what  candor  required,  and  that  of 
forty-odd  Nebraska  senators  who  listened,  no  one  rebuked 
him ;  and  asked  if  that  had  been  said  among  Marion's  men, 
Southerners  though  they  were,  what  would  have  become  of 
the  man  that  said  it?  He  added  that  if  it  had  been  said  in 
old  Independence  Hall  seventy-eight  years  before,  the  very 
doorkeeper  would  have  throttled  the  man  and  thrust  him  into 
the  street.17 

The  day  after  the  Peoria  speech,  Douglas  told  Lincoln 
that  he  understood  the  Territorial  question  better  than  all 
the  opposition  in  the  Senate,  and  declared  that  Lincoln  had 
given  him  more  trouble  than  his  combined  antagonists  in 
Congress.  Then  Douglas  proposed  that  he  would  speak  no 
more  during  the  campaign  if  Lincoln  would  do  the  samo, 
and  to  that  proposition  Lincoln  acceded.18  So  though  a 
speech  by  Douglas  and  Lincoln  had  been  advertised  for  the 
following  day,  Mr.  Douglas  said  that  he  was  too  hoarse  to 
speak,  and  Lincoln  declared  that  he  would  not  take  advan 
tage  of  the  judge's  indisposition,  by  addressing  the  people. 

"Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  186.  18Lamon,  358. 

"Ibid.,  203. 


An  Emancipated  Politician  175 

His  friends  could  not  see  the  affair  in  the  same  light,  and 
they  "pressed  him  for  a  speech,"  but  Lincoln  mysteriously 
and  unaccountably  refused.19 

Wisely  did  shrewd  Douglas,  the  imperial  leader  in  debate, 
appeal  to  the  generosity  of  his  opponent  to  conclude  fur 
ther  controversy.  Douglas  was  an  over-match  for  all  of 
the  radical  Abolitionists,  the  men  who  spoke  of  the  higher 
law,  who  made  war  on  the  charter  of  American  liberties. 
His  better  nature  rejoiced  in  such  conflicts.  But  his  genius 
was  rebuked  in  the  presence  of  the  plain  product  of  the 
West,  the  man  who  neither  relinquished  his  confidence  in  the 
Constitution  nor  yet  in  the  ultimate  triumph  of  the  freedom 
that  first  gave  it  its  being.  Douglas  could  wage  triumphant 
war  on  a  Love  joy  and  Chase,  but  the  common  logic  and 
simple  honesty  of  Lincoln  disconcerted  him.  The  elaborate 
oratory  of  the  Senate  never  confused  the  Senator  of  Illinois. 
For  the  first  time  in  his  career  the  national  leader  was  wor 
ried  and  perplexed.  He  was  neither  used  to  nor  prepared  for 
the  combination  of  talent  that  could  not  be  diverted  from 
its  way,  that  met  every  movement  with  a  baffling  compla 
cency.  There  was  something  unanswerable  in  Lincoln's  man 
ner  and  mode  of  discussion.  Douglas  could  fight  other  men 
at  a  distance,  but  this  opponent  made  it  a  hand-to-hand 
grapple.  At  length  a  man  had  arisen  in  the  American  arena 
as  skillful  in  defense  of  freedom  as  other  men  were  in  that 
of  slavery.  An  orator  had  come  who  combined  the  solid 
ity  of  Webster,  the  moral  fervor  of  Phillips,  and  the 
logic  of  Calhoun;  who  mingled  justice,  patriotism  and  argu 
ment  so  as  to  astonish  the  foremost  figure  in  Washington. 
It  was  no  idle  sentiment  that  brought  Douglas  to  tender  his 
rival  the  high  tribute  of  a  truce. 

The  Peoria  and  State  Fair  speeches  created  a  supreme 
"Lamon,  359. 


176  Lincoln  the  Politician 

place  for  Lincoln  in  the  anti-slavery  movement.  He  was 
looked  to  as  likely  to  gather  great  strength  in  the  transi 
tional  period  of  party  dissolution.  A  dominating  passion 
for  place  again  took  hold  of  him.  He  declared  he  prized  a 
full  term  in  the  Senate  more  than  the  Presidency.  To  ad 
vance  local  political  conditions  Lincoln  was  unwisely  made  a 
candidate,  in  his  absence,  for  the  State  Legislature  that 
would  soon  elect  a  Senator.  Mrs.  Lincoln,  however,  had 
Lincoln's  name  taken  off  the  list  of  candidates.  When  Mr. 
Lincoln  returned,  "I  went  to  see  him,"  says  Jayne,  "in  order 
to  get  his  consent  to  run.  That  was  at  his  house.  He  was 
then  the  saddest  man  I  ever  saw, — the  gloomiest.  He  walked 
up  and  down  the  floor,  almost  crying;  and  to  all  my  per 
suasions  to  let  his  name  stand  in  the  paper,  he  said,  'No,  I 
can't.  You  don't  know  all.  I  say  you  don't  begin  to  know 
one-half,  and  that's  enough!'  I  did,  however,  go  and  have 
his  name  reinstated."  After  election  Lincoln  resigned  and 
by  a  "still  hunt"  a  Democrat  was  elected  in  his  stead.  The 
interference  of  Mrs.  Lincoln,  the  loss  of  a  vote  in  the  ap 
proaching  close  contest,  according  to  Jayne,  angered  the 
people  of  Sangamon  County  so  that  for  the  time  being  they 
hated  him.* 

Lincoln  managed  his  senatorial  campaign  with  adroitness. 
Herndon  shows  that  Lincoln  did  not  calmly  sit  down  and 
gather  his  robes  around  him,  waiting  for  the  people  to  call 
him.  The  vicissitudes  of  a  political  campaign  brought  into 
play  his  management,  and  developed  to  its  fullest  extent  his 
latent  industry.  Like  other  politicians  he  never  overlooked  a 
newspaper  man  who  had  it  in  his  power  to  say  a  good  or  bad 
thing  of  him.  Writing  to  the  editor  of  an  obscure  little 
country  newspaper  that  he  had  been  reading  his  paper  for 
three  or  four  years  and  had  paid  him  nothing  for  it,  he 

*Lamon,  359-360. 


An  Emancipated  Politician  177 

enclosed  $10.00  and  admonished  the  editor  with  complacency 
to  put  it  into  his  pocket  and  say  nothing  further  about  it. 
Very  soon  thereafter  Lincoln  prepared  a  political  article 
and  sent  it  to  the  rural  journalist,  requesting  its  publication 
in  the  editorial  columns  of  his  valued  paper.  The  latter, 
having  followed  Lincoln's  directions,  declined  saying  that  he 
long  ago  made  it  a  rule  to  publish  nothing  as  editorial  mat 
ter  not  written  by  himself.  Lincoln  read  the  editor's  answer 
to  Herndon,  who  remarks  that  although  the  laugh  was  on 
Lincoln  the  latter  enjoyed  the  joke  heartily,  and  said  that 
that  editor  had  a  lofty  but  proper  conception  of  true  jour 
nalism.20 

His  correspondence  shows  that  he  was  in  constant  contact 
with  the  ever  shifting  events  of  the  campaign;  that  he  was 
on  the  lookout  for  dangerous  symptoms ;  that  he  was  careful 
to  nicety  to  measure  his  strength  soberly,  and  displayed  the 
same  splendid  generalship  that  distinguished  him  in  his  Con 
gressional  canvass.  The  history  of  his  effort  to  gain  a  seat 
in  the  Senate  may  be  well  trailed  in  his  own  letters.  A  curt 
and  crisp  note  advised  his  friends  of  his  intention.  The 
following  is  a  sample  of  many:  "You  used  to  express  a 
good  deal  of  partiality  for  me,  and  if  you  are  still  so,  now  is 
the  time.  Some  friends  here  are  really  for  me,  for  the 
U.  S.  Senate,  and  I  should  be  very  grateful  if  you  could 
make  a  mark  for  me  among  your  members.  Please  write 
to  me  at  all  events  giving  me  the  name,  postoffices  and 
'political  position'  of  members  around  about  you."  21 

Love  joy  had  only  some  twenty-five  adherents  at  the  con 
vention  following  the  "State  Fair  speech"  of  Lincoln.  Noth 
ing  daunted  by  the  paltry  attendance,  they  adopted  a  bold 
platform.  "Ichabod  raved,"  said  the  Democratic  organ  in 
derision,  "and  Lovejoy  swelled,  and  all  endorsed  the  senti- 

20  Herndon,  2,  44-45.  a  Tarbell,  2,  305. 


178  Lincoln  the  Politician 

ments  of  that  speech."  Not  content  with  this,  without  con 
sent  or  consultation,  they  placed  Lincoln's  name  on  the  list 
of  their  State  Central  Committee.22  Lincoln's  reply  shows 
that  he  was  not  unwilling  to  confer  with  the  abolition  leaders 
and  that  he  deemed  it  well  to  keep  the  way  open  to  an  under 
standing.  "I  suppose  my  opposition  to  the  principle  of 
slavery  is  as  strong  as  that  of  any  member  of  the  Republican 
party;  but  I  have  also  supposed  that  the  extent  to  which  I 
feel  authorized  to  carry  that  opposition,  practically,  was 
not  at  all  satisfactory  to  that  party.  The  leading  men  who 
organized  that  party  were  present  on  the  fourth  of  October 
at  the  discussion  between  Douglas  and  myself  at  Springfield, 
and  had  full  opportunity  to  not  misunderstand  my  position. 
Do  I  misunderstand  them?  Please  write  and  inform  me."  23 

Like  other  candidates  for  public  office  he  was  subjected 
to  all  manner  of  hostility  and  opposition.  He  was  not  spared 
the  humility  of  defending  his  most  cherished  integrity.  Lin 
coln  was  not  a  common  egoist  and  he  sparingly  bared  his 
view.  He  was  little  trained  in  the  easy  language  of  self- 
praise.  Yet  once  across  the  bar  he  displayed  rare  skill  in 
the  presentation  of  his  position. 

"For  a  senator  to  be  the  impartial  representative  of  his 
whole  State  is  so  plain  a  duty  that  I  pledge  myself  to  the 
observance  of  it  without  hesitation,  but  not  without  some 
mortification  that  any  one  should  suspect  me  of  an  inclina 
tion  to  the  contrary.  I  was  eight  years  a  representative  of 
Sangamon  County  in  the  legislature ;  and  although  in  a  con 
flict  of  interest  between  that  and  other  counties  it  perhaps 
would  have  been  my  duty  to  stick  to  old  Sangamon,  yet  it 
is  not  within  my  recollection  that  the  northern  members  ever 
wanted  my  vote  for  any  interests  of  theirs  without  getting 

22  Nicolay  &  Hay,  1,  386. 

23  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  210. 


An  Emancipated  Politician  179 

it."  24 

Self  interest  in  the  campaign  did  not  once  lead  him  astray 
in  partial  judgment  of  the  course  of  events.  Early  in  Janu 
ary  he  informed  Washburne  that  he  did  not  know  that  it  was 
of  much  advantage  to  have  the  largest  number  of  votes  at 
the  start;  that  if  he  did  know  it  to  be  an  advantage,  he 
should  feel  better,  for  he  had  more  committals  than  any  other 
man.25  He  remained  a  master  in  the  study  of  the  attitude 
of  the  individual  voter  and  delegate.  He  not  only  had  the 
enthusiasm  of  the  orator,  but  also  the  keen,  calm  sense  of  the 
politician,  knowing  that  battles  are  largely  won  by  strategy 
and  plan.  He  did  not  leave  the  decision  to  chance.  He 
studied  the  way  to  reach  men,  the  method  of  attaching  and 
calling  friends.  He  was  methodical  rather  than  brilliant. 

His  last  letter  dealing  with  the  event  opens  with  the  state 
ment  that  the  agony  was  over  at  last.  He  then  unfolded 
the  story  of  his  defeat,  how  his  forty-seven  adherents  yielded 
to  the  five  of  Trumbull,  how  Governor  Matteson  by  a  secret 
candidacy  gathered  some  anti-Nebraska  men  to  his  support ; 
how  five  of  the  latter  declared  they  would  never  vote  for  a 
Whig  and  twenty  Whigs  resentfully  contended  that  they 
would  not  vote  for  the  man  of  the  five.  He  then  stated  that 
the  signal  was  given  to  the  Nebraska  men  to  turn  to  Matteson 
on  the  seventh  ballot ;  that  soon  he  only  wanted  three  of  an 
election;  that  to  detain  the  bolters  Lincoln's  friends  turned 
to  Trumbull  until  he  had  risen  to  thirty-five  and  he,  Lincoln, 
had  been  reduced  to  fifteen;  that  they  would  never  desert 
him  except  by  direction;  that  he  then  determined  to  strike 
at  once  and  accordingly  advised  the  fifteen  to  go  for  Trum 
bull  and  thus  elected  him  on  the  tenth  ballot. 

"Such  is  the  way,"  said  Lincoln,  "the  thing  was  done.  I 
think  you  would  have  done  the  same  under  the  circumstances ; 

M  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  212.  ™  Ibid.,  213. 


180  Lincoln  the  Politician 

though  Judge  Davis,  who  came  down  this  morning,  declares 
he  never  would  have  consented  to  the  forty-seven  being  con 
trolled  by  the  five.  I  regret  my  defeat  moderately,  but  I  am 
not  nervous  about  it.  I  could  have  headed  off  every  combina 
tion  and  been  elected,  had  it  not  been  for  Matteson's  double 
game — and  his  defeat  now  gives  me  more  pleasure  than  my 
own  gives  me  pain.  On  the  whole,  it  is  perhaps  as  well  for 
our  general  cause  that  Trumbull  is  elected.  The  Nebraska 
men  confess  that  they  hate  it  worse  than  anything  that  could 
have  happened.  It  is  a  great  consolation  to  see  them  worse 
whipped  than  I  am."  26 

Here  a  composite  Lincoln  confronts  the  student — a  poli 
tician  much  concerned  over  defeat  and  getting  pleasure  out 
of  the  failure  of  an  unfair  opponent.  Yet  at  the  same  time 
another  Lincoln  reveals  himself.  Determined  to  run  no  risk 
in  the  cause  of  freedom  he  yielded  cherished  hopes  and  gave 
way  to  an  obstinate  minority.  He  would  not  allow  his  own 
fortune  to  stand  in  the  way  of  striking  a  blow  at  the  slave 
power.  Lincoln  emancipated  himself  from  selfish  egoism, 
rising  in  the  hour  of  disappointment  to  the  calmness  of 
duty. 

26  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  213-215. 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE   PILOT   OF   THE   NEW   FAITH  IN   ILLINOIS 

A  BOLITIONISM  as  a  gospel  showed  rather  paltry  re- 
•**-sults  for  thirty  years  of  unceasing  labor.  Still  its  essen 
tial  dogma,  hatred  to  human  bondage,  slowly  but  steadily 
held  a  larger  place  in  the  public  thought.  Mistakes  of  the 
South  and  its  Northern  friends  hurried  on  a  crisis.  The 
Kansas  controversy  made  the  issue  of  a  remorseless  con 
flict,  clearer  by  a  concrete  example  of  the  incompatibility  of 
freedom  and  slavery.  The  nation  was  thus  educated  for 
aggressive  action  on  the  long  mooted  question.  The  time 
was  becoming  ripe  for  the  translation  of  public  sentiment 
into  party  platform,  statute  and  decision.  The  Abolitionist 
with  relentless  gospel  even  of  war  on  the  Constitution  was 
altogether  too  radical  for  the  general  mind.  The  slowly 
dying  Whig  party  had  not  kept  pace  with  the  advanced 
public  thought,  it  was  too  conservative.  The  democratic 
party  kept  on  its  path  either  of  indifference  to  the  slavery 
issue  or  ardent  support  of  the  southern  view  and  was  the 
refuge  of  those  who  were  dead  to  the  sweep  of  events.  Hence 
the  necessity  of  a  new  party,  with  a  platform  that  should 
sturdily  proclaim  resistance  to  the  spread  of  slavery  in  the 
territories ;  that  should  register  a  rising  spirit  in  the  North, 
growing  restless  and  sensitive  as  it  contemplated  the  in 
creasing  demands  of  the  Southern  institutions,  as  it  grasped 
the  significance  of  the  issue  involving  the  continued  existence 
in  their  primal  integrity  of  cherished  principles  of  the  Re- 

181 


182  Lincoln  the  Politician 

public,  a  grappling  for  political  supremacy  of  the  free  labor 
of  the  North  and  the  slave  power  of  the  South.  Mingled 
with  the  essential  spirit  of  justice  pervading  Abolitionism 
was  the  growth  of  the  opinion  that  slavery  was  a  social  and 
political  evil.  The  public  wrath  at  the  repeal  of  a  venerated 
Compromise,  the  increasing  discontent  at  the  violent  mani 
festations  of  the  friends  of  slavery  in  Kansas,  prepared  the 
public  for  the  formation  of  a  radical  party. 

Lincoln  being  a  man  of  power,  was  beset  by  three  parties. 
He  was  urged  to  remain  a  Whig  by  the  conservatives,  to  be 
come  a  Know-nothing  by  those  drifting  on  the  political 
waters.  Others  sought  to  baptise  him  in  the  spirit  of  Abo 
litionism.  Lincoln  had  long  since  made  his  resolution  to 
array  himself  on  the  side  of  freedom.  He  was  awaiting  the 
right  moment.  He  saw  the  time  for  leadership  was  coming, 
that  events  were  rapidly  sweeping  forward  to  a  climax.  In 
the  perturbed  political  condition  he  was  anxious  not  to  go 
ahead  of  events  and  still  not  play  the  laggard.  Among  all 
politicians  in  American  history  he  was  the  wisest  student  of 
the  public  mind. 

With  true  vision,  Lincoln  foreshadowed  the  solemn  con 
sequences  of  the  Kansas  struggle.  He  asked  if  there  could 
be  a  more  apt  invention  to  bring  about  collision  and  violence 
on  the  slavery  question  than  the  "Nebraska  project,"  and 
whether  "the  first  drop  of  blood  so  shed  would  not  be  the 
real  knell  of  the  Union."  2  Behind  the  fair  form  of  the  Doug 
las  doctrine  of  popular  sovereignty,  he  saw  the  lurking  ser 
pent.  He  was  not  deceived  by  fine,  smooth  words.  In  the 
beginning,  he  beheld  the  gaping  wounds  of  Kansas,  the  hypoc 
risy  of  the  policy  professing  the  name  of  peace  and  bringing 
in  its  train  the  devildom  of  discord,  the  curse  of  a  broken, 
plighted  compact.  A  letter  to  his  friend  Speed  in  1855 

1     2  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  200. 


The  Pilot  of  the  New  Faith  in  Illinois  183 

illumines  the  whole  subject,  and  is  a  contribution  to  the  po 
litical  history  of  the  time — unsurpassed  in  statement,  in 
clearness  of  understanding,  in  subdued  calmness  of  judg 
ment: 

"You  know  I  dislike  slavery,  and  you  fully  admit  the  ab 
stract  wrong  of  it.  So  far  there  is  no  cause  of  difference. 
But  you  say  that  sooner  than  yield  your  legal  right  to  the 
slave,  especially  at  the  bidding  of  those  who  are  not  them 
selves  interested,  you  would  see  the  Union  dissolved.  I  am 
not  aware  than  any  one  is  bidding  you  yield  that  right ;  very 
certainly  I  am  not.  I  leave  that  matter  entirely  to  yourself. 
I  also  acknowledge  your  rights  and  my  obligations  under 
the  Constitution  in  regard  to  your  slaves.  I  confess  I  hate 
to  see  the  poor  creatures  hunted  down  and  caught  and  car 
ried  back  to  their  stripes  and  unrequited  toil ;  but  I  bite  my 
lips  and  keep  quiet.  ...  It  is  not  fair  for  you  to  assume 
that  I  have  no  interest  in  a  thing  which  has,  and  continually 
exercises,  the  power  of  making  me  miserable.  You  ought 
rather  to  appreciate  how  much  the  great  body  of  the  North 
ern  people  do  crucify  their  feelings,  in  order  to  maintain  their 
loyalty  to  the  Constitution  and  the  Union."  3 

He  then  bared  with  remorseless  logic  the  common  southern 
attitude :  "You  say,  if  you  were  President,  you  would  send 
an  army  and  hang  the  leaders  of  the  Missouri  outrages 
among  the  Kansas  elections;  still,  if  Kansas  fairly  votes 
herself  a  slave  State  she  must  be  admitted  or  the  Union  must 
be  dissolved.  But  how  if  she  votes  herself  a  slave  State  un 
fairly,  that  is,  by  the  very  means  for  which  you  say  you 
would  hang  men?  Must  she  still  be  admitted,  or  the  Union 
dissolved?  That  will  be  the  phase  of  the  question  when  it 
first  becomes  a  practicable  one."  4 

The  same  letter  shows  he  was  aware  of  the  potency  of  the 

•Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  217.  '.Ibid. 


184  Lincoln  the  Politician 

partisan  lash,  was  an  observer  of  the  methods  of  securing 
results,  of  the  cowardice  and  timidity  of  leaders  where  politi 
cal  policy  appeared  on  the  horizon.  He  confessed  that  in 
their  opposition  to  the  admission  of  Kansas,  they  would 
probably  be  beaten ;  that  the  Democrats  standing  as  a  unit 
among  themselves,  could,  directly  or  indirectly,  bribe  enough 
men  to  carry  the  day  as  they  could  on  the  open  proposition 
to  establish  a  monarchy ;  that  by  getting  hold  of  some  man 
in  the  North  whose  position  and  ability  was  such  that  he 
could  make  the  support  of  the  measure,  whatever  it  might  be, 
a  party  necessity,  the  thing  would  be  done.5 

Then  came  a  biting  comment  on  the  pretenses  and  prac 
tices  of  those  who  were  spreading  the  national  disease,  of 
those  who  had  one  doctrine  in  public  and  another  in  private, 
who  worshipped  the  God  of  Liberty  with  speech  and  Mammon 
with  their  deeds.  In  the  same  letter  Lincoln  said  that  al 
though  in  a  private  letter  or  conversation  the  slaveholders 
would  express  their  preference  that  Kansas  should  be  free, 
they  would  not  vote  for  a  man  for  Congress  who  would  say 
the  same  thing  publicly  and  no  such  man  could  be  elected 
from  any  district  in  a  slave  State;  that  slave-breeders  and 
slave-traders  were  a  small,  detested  class  among  them;  and 
yet  in  politics  they  dictated  the  course  of  the  Southerners, 
and  were  as  completely  their  masters  as  they  were  the  master 
of  their  own  negroes.6 

A  vivid  picture  of  party  uncertainty  is  seen  in  his  answer 
to  the  inquiry  of  Speed  as  to  where  he  then  stood.  "I  think 
I  am  a  Whig;  but  others  say  there  are  no  Whigs,  and  say 
that  I  am  an  Abolitionist.  When  I  was  at  Washington,  I 
voted  for  the  Wilmot  proviso  as  good  as  forty  times;  and 
I  never  heard  of  any  one  attempting  to  unwhig  me  for  that. 
I  now  do  no  more  than  oppose  the  extension  of  slavery.  I 
8 Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  217-218.  'Ibid.,  218. 


The  Pilot  of  the  New  Faith  in  Illinois  185 

am  not  a  Know-nothing;  that  is  certain.  How  could  I  be? 
How  could  any  one  who  abhors  the  oppression  of  negroes  be 
in  favor  of  degrading  classes  of  white  people  ?  Our  progress 
in  degeneracy  appears  to  me  to  be  pretty  rapid.  As  a  nation 
we  began  by  declaring  that  'all  men  are  created  equal.'  We 
now  practically  read  it,  'all  men  are  created  equal  except 
negroes.'  When  the  Know-nothings  get  control,  it  will  read 
'all  men  are  created  equal,  except  negroes  and  foreigners  and 
Catholics.'  When  it  comes  to  this,  I  shall  prefer  emigrating 
to  some  country  where  they  make  no  pretense  of  loving  lib 
erty, — to  Russia,  for  instance,  where  despotism  can  be  taken 
pure,  and  without  the  base  alloy  of  hypocrisy."  7 

To  him  "Know-nothingism"  transcended  all  questions  of 
policy,  denied  the  very  mission  of  Democracy,  turned  back 
the  hour  hand  of  political  progress  and  was  traitor  and  re 
creant  to  its  teachings.  He  was  not  sure  of  his  standing  in 
the  transitional  period  of  party  dissolution  and  showed  some 
thing  in  his  mental  attitude  of  the  spirit  of  unrest  abroad 
in  the  nation  and  hardly  knew  whither  the  trend  of  events 
would  carry  the  American  people.  Cautious  in  moving  for 
ward  on  matters  involving  method,  he  was  unwedgeable  when 
the  principles  of  the  Republic  were  at  stake.  His  note  of 
scorn  rings  clear  and  loud  to  these  who,  in  selfishness  and 
bigotry,  sought  exceptions  to  and  a  narrow  interpretation 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

By  nature  Lincoln  was  a  friend  of  peace.  He  would  have 
rejoiced  at  any  plan  that  produced  a  peaceful  solution  of 
the  vexed  problem.  No  matter  how  slow  the  march  of  free 
dom,  he  would  have  bridled  his  wrath.  But  the  aggressive 
ness  of  the  South  in  the  Kansas  struggle  opened  his  vision 
to  the  fatuity  of  gradual  emancipation.  He  grew  bitter 
as  Garrison  in  statement  as  he  contemplated  the  hypocritic 
7  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  218. 


186  Lincoln  the  Politician 

limits  on  freedom,  the  spread  of  an  institution  hostile  to 
democracy  with  an  ever  widening  promise  of  future  abate 
ment:  "On  the  question  of  liberty  as  a  principle,"  he  wrote 
a  friend,  "we  are  not  what  we  have  been.  When  we  were 
the  political  slaves  of  King  George,  and  wanted  to  be  free, 
we  called  the  maxim  that  'all  men  are  created  equal,'  a  self 
evident  truth,  but  now  when  we  have  grown  fat,  and  have 
lost  all  dread  of  being  slaves  ourselves,  we  have  become  so 
greedy  to  be  masters  that  we  call  the  same  maxim  sa  self 
evident  lie.'  The  Fourth  of  July  has  not  quite  dwindled 
away;  it  is  still  a  great  day — for  burning  fire-crack 
ers  !  !  !"  8 

The  groping  of  a  giant  mind  concerning  itself  with  a 
mammoth  problem,  the  germ  of  the  great  speech  of  Spring 
field  that  was  soon  to  startle  the  nation  with  its  boldness  like 
wise  shows  itself  in  this  same  letter.  "Our  political  problem 
now  is,  'Can  we  as  a  nation  continue  together  permanently — 
forever — half  slave  and  half  free?'  The  problem  is  too 
mighty  for  me — may  God,  in  his  mercy,  superintend  the  solu 
tion."  9 

Finally  the  nation  changed.  The  people,  once  dead  to 
the  cry  of  the  slave,  were  alive  to  the  evil  of  slavery.  Doc 
trines  once  deemed  the  outburst  of  the  fanatic  were  now  on 
the  lips  of  conservative  men,  and  Lovejoy  had  become  the 
consort  of  the  political  leader.  All  these  years,  Lincoln  had 
waited  in  patience  for  the  day  when  white  men  should  be 
ready  to  fight  for  the  freedom  of  others.  Civilization  comes 
from  a  sure,  steady  and  progressive  enlightenment  of  public 
sentiment.  Genius  alone  is  helpless  in  the  presence  of  a 
palsied  national  opinion.  Consider  Lincoln  in  South  Caro 
lina  in  1856,  and  the  hopelessness  of  the  ideal  without  the 
company  of  circumstances  is  manifest.  Living  history  comes 
8  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  215.  9  Ibid.,  216. 


The  Pilot  of  the  New  Faith  m  Illinois  187 

from  the  union  of  the  great  man  and  the  happy  moment  for 
the  crystallization  of  advancing  public  sentiment.  In  this 
sense  alone  the  individual  makes  history,  and  it  becomes  the 
record  of  the  few.  The  great  man  is  the  symbol  of  the 
marching  life  of  the  multitude  and  through  him  humanity 
moves  resistlessly  to  its  higher  attitude. 

A  gathering  of  editors  opposed  to  the  Nebraska  bill  on 
February  22,  1856,  marked  the  first  visible  step  in  the  forma 
tion  of  the  Republican  party  in  Illinois.  Lincoln  was,  of 
course,  not  entitled  to  participate  in  the  public  deliberations 
of  that  convention.  That  he  promptly  heard  the  tramp  of 
coming  events  is  seen  in  his  readiness  to  play  a  commanding 
part  in  the  early  manifestation  of  the  protesting  movement. 

Declaring  that  the  black  cloud  of  the  American  party  was 
threatening  to  drive  the  Germans  from  the  ranks  of  the 
party  about  to  be  formed,  Hon.  George  Schieder  said  that 
he  entered  the  Decatur  convention  with  a  resolution  in  oppo 
sition  to  that  movement,  and  helped  to  form  a  platform  con 
taining  a  paragraph  against  the  prescriptive  doctrine  of  the 
so-called  American  party.  That  portion  of  the  platform 
condemning  Know-nothingism  raised  a  storm  of  opposition, 
and,  in  despair,  he  proposed  submitting  it  to  Mr.  Lincoln 
and  abiding  by  his  decision.  After  carefully  reading  the 
paragraph,  Lincoln  made  the  remark  that  the  resolution 
introduced  by  Mr.  Schieder  was  nothing  new,  that  it  was 
already  contained  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and 
that  they  could  not  form  a  new  party  on  prescriptive  prin 
ciples.  Mr.  Schieder  states  that  this  declaration  of  Lincoln 
saved  the  resolution  and  helped  to  establish  the  new  party 
on  the  most  liberal  basis,  and  that  it  was  adopted  at  the 
Bloomington  Convention,  and  next  at  the  First  National- 
Republican  Convention  at  Philadelphia.  He  further  states 
that  Lincoln  crystallized  public  sentiment,  gave  it  a  focal 


188  Lmcoln  the  Politician 

point,  so  that  the  great  majority  of  the  Germans  entered 
the  new  party  that  later  made  Lmcoln  President. 

Lincoln  was  in  the  van  of  the  leaders  who  rallied  to  the 
support  of  the  infant  party  that  has  written  such  luminous 
pages  in  American  history.  He  showed  his  wonted  sagacity, 
when  an  editor  suggested  his  name  as  a  candidate  for  Gov 
ernor,  in  immediately  advising  the  nomination  of  an  anti- 
Nebraskan  Democratic  candidate,  on  the  ground  that  such  a 
nomination  would  be  more  available.10 

To  Herndon  the  caution  of  Lincoln  seemed  to  partake  of 
brotherhood  with  inaction.  He  hardly  realized  the  sureness 
of  the  unremitting  character  of  his  progress.  As  Lincoln's 
partner  felt  the  thrilling  approach  of  a  political  crisis,  he 
resolved  to  unloose  Lincoln  from  his  conservative  connec 
tions  without  realizing  that  the  latter  was  ready  to  dare  the 
future  on  the  bark  of  the  coming  party.  Delegates  were  to 
be  elected  for  the  State  Convention  at  Bloomington  that 
was  to  breathe  life  into  the  Republican  party  in  Illinois. 
Herndon  signed  Mr.  Lincoln's  name  to  the  call  for  the  San- 
gamon  County  Convention  without  authority  and  published 
it  in  a  local  paper.  A  dramatic  incident  ensued: 

"John  T.  Stuart  was  keeping  his  eye  on  Lincoln,  with  a 
view  of  keeping  him  on  his  side — the  totally  dead  conservative 
side.  Mr.  Stuart  saw  the  published  call  and  grew  mad; 
rushed  into  my  office,  seemed  mad,  horrified,  and  said  to  me, 
'Sir,  did  Mr.  Lincoln  sign  that  Abolition  call  which  is  pub 
lished  this  morning?'  I  answered,  'Mr.  Lmcoln  did  not  sign 
that  call.' — 'Did  Lincoln  authorize  you  to  sign  it?'  said  Mr. 
Stuart.  'No,  he  never  authorized  me  to  sign  it.' — 'Then  do 
you  know  that  you  have  ruined  Mr.  Lincoln?' — 'I  did  not 
know  that  I  had  ruined  Mr.  Lincoln ;  did  not  intend  to  do  so ; 
thought  he  was  a  made  man  by  it;  that  the  time  had  come 

10  Transactions  McLean  Co.,  3,  39. 


The  Pilot  of  the  New  Faith  m  Ittmois  189 

when  conservatism  was  a  crime  and  a  blunder.' — 'You,  then, 
take  the  responsibility  of  your  acts;  do  you?' — 'I  do,  most 
emphatically.'  ' 

Herndon  then  wrote  Lincoln.  He  instantly  replied  that 
he  adopted  what  Herndon  had  done,  and  promised  to  meet 
Lovejoy  and  other  radicals.11 

Lincoln  did  not  serve  freedom  in  word  only.  A  free  young 
negro  was  in  danger  of  being  sold  into  slavery.  The  Gov 
ernor  of  Illinois  was  seen.  He  responded  that  he  had  no  right 
to  interfere.  Lincoln  rose  from  his  chair,  hat  in  hand,  and 
exclaimed:  "By  God,  Governor,  I'll  make  the  ground  in  this 
country  too  hot  for  the  foot  of  a  slave,  whether  you  have 
the  legal  power  to  secure  a  release  of  this  boy  or  not."  12 

During  all  the  trying  time  when  the  liberty  of  Kansas 
was  in  the  balance,  when  violence  was  being  met  with  violence, 
when  even  conservative  men  drifted  into  the  movement  to 
aid  the  free  state  men  in  opposing  the  Government,  he  re 
mained  master  of  himself,  looked  beyond  the  passion  of  the 
moment  to  the  abiding  realities.  Herndon,  who  was  a  par 
ticipant  in  this  movement,  unfolds  a  view  of  the  calm,  far 
sighted  man,  who  knew  that  violence  was  the  father  of  great 
evils  and  not  a  safe  foundation  for  a  free  state.  He  says 
that  Lincoln  was  informed  of  their  intents,  and  took  the 
first  opportunity  that  he  could  to  dissuade  them  from  their 
partially  formed  purpose.  They  spoke  of  liberty,  justice, 
and  God's  higher  law.  He  answered  that  he  believed  "in  the 
providence  of  the  most  men,  the  largest  purse,  and  the  long 
est  cannon";  that  if  they  were  in  the  minority,  they  could 
not  succeed,  and  that  if  they  were  in  the  majority  they  could 
succeed  with  the  ballot,  throwing  away  the  bullet.  He 
advised  them  that,  "In  a  democracy  where  the  majority  rule 
by  the  ballot  through  the  forms  of  law,  physical  rebellions 
11  Lamon,  374-375.  »  Herndon,  2,  47-48. 


190  Lmcoln  the  Politician 

and  bloody  resistances"  were  radically  wrong,  unconstitu 
tional,  and  were  treason.  He  besought  them  to  revolutionize 
through  the  ballot-box,  and  "restore  the  Government  once 
more  to  the  affections  and  hearts  of  men,  by  making  it  ex 
press,  as  it  was  intended  to  do,  the  highest  spirit  of  justice 
and  liberty."  Their  attempt,  he  continued,  to  resist  the 
laws  of  Kansas  by  force,  was  criminal  and  all  their  feeble 
attempts  would  end  in  bringing  sorrow  on  their  heads,  and 
ruin  the  cause  they  would  freely  die  to  preserve.13  Well 
might  Herndon  say  that  this  speech  saved  them  from  the 
greatest  follies.14  Instead  of  desperate  measures,  money  was 
forwarded  under  legitimate  conditions,  Lincoln  joining  in 
the  subscription. 

The  second  step  in  the  formation  of  the  Republican  party 
was  the  Convention  at  Bloomington.  Tragic  events  had 
taken  place  in  the  State  and  Nation;  signs  of  the  sombre 
character  of  the  approaching  conflict.  Sumner  was  struck 
down  in  the  Senate  by  the  dastard  attacks  of  Brooks,  an 
act  which  sent  a  shudder  of  anger  and  indignation  through 
the  North  and  a  wave  of  approbation  through  the  South. 
This  incident  alone  showed  the  strain  that  the  moorings  of 
the  Nation  were  undergoing.  In  Illinois,  too,  violence  as 
serted  its  hideousness,  and  a  delegate,  Paul  Selby,  was 
treacherously  assaulted  by  political  opponents.  The  spread 
of  the  Civil  War  in  Kansas  heightened  the  magnitude  of  the 
occasion.  The  seriousness  of  the  National  and  State  situa 
tion  had  taken  hold  of  the  delegates.  The  gravity  of  public 
affairs  aroused  mad  instincts.  Many  were  ready  for  radical 
conduct,  were  ready  to  meet  force  with  force,  and  violence 
with  violence. 

From  the  four  corners  of  the  State,  dauntless  anti-Ne 
braska  Democrats,  conservative  Whig,  distraught  Know- 

"Lamon,  372-373.  "Herndon,  2,  49. 


The  Pilot  of  tlie  New  Faith  in  Utinow  191 

nothing,  bitter  Abolitionist,  and  those  drifting  on  the  tide 
of  events,  gathered  under  a  common  impulse  in  opposition 
to  the  vaunting  slave  party.  Beneath  the  surface  there  was 
memory  of  former  antagonism.  The  problem  of  the  hour 
was  the  uniting  of  these  discordant  elements  into  the  homo 
geneity  of  common  conviction ;  submerging  old  and  cherished 
affiliations  with  a  flood  of  fealty  to  a  new  gospel ;  the  trans 
muting  raw  recruits ;  quickening  the  martial  spirit  commonly 
the  product  only  of  long  service. 

It  was  a  time  for  a  momentous  speech.  Several  leaders 
of  distinction  had  addressed  the  convention,  when  the  au 
dience,  with  instinctive  wisdom,  called  for  Lincoln  to 
make  the  closing  address.  It  was  one  of  those  rare  moments 
in  human  affairs  when  words  may  turn  the  tide  of  events. 
He  caught  the  wandering  thoughts  of  troubled  men  and  gave 
them  continuity.15  Those  long  without  a  political  faith  were 
rejoiced  to  find  a  home.  Like  an  inspired  giant,  he  was  aglow 
with  the  greatness  of  his  theme.  He  spoke  as  the  spirit  of 
the  age  might  have  spoken,  if  it  had  broken  into  eloquence 
sublime  and  resistless.  Men  were  brought  face  to  face  with 
immortal  justice,  with  eternal  righteousness.  The  humblest 
hearer  lived  in  the  thrill  of  such  communion.  Reporters 
dropped  their  pencils  and  forgot  their  work ;  even  Herndon, 
who  was  wont  to  take  notes  when  Lincoln  spoke,  threw  pen 
and  paper  aside,  subdued  and  overcome  by  the  majesty  of 
his  partner's  speech. 

It  was  not  alone  a  triumph  in  immediate  results,  but  also 
a  triumph  in  moulding  the  abiding  convictions  of  men.  Above 
all  the  enthusiasm  of  the  moment,  there  still  remained  his 
solid  logic,  a  logic  that  made  Republicans  of  life-long  Demo 
crats.  John  M.  Palmer  declared  that  he  remembered  only 
one  expression  of  speech,  "We  will  not  dissolve  the  Union, 
15  Transactions  McLean  Co.,  3,  91. 


192  Lincoln  the  Politician 

and  you  shall  not  do  it."  Others  dwelt  on  his  declaration 
to  meet  the  occasion  with  ballots  and  not  bullets,  and  so  the 
minds  of  men  as  well  as  the  impulses  were  wisely  educated. 
The  address  became  famous  as  "the  lost  speech."  Its  re 
nown  grew  with  age.  It  became  sacred  to  the  memory  of 
those  who  heard  it  and  time  hallowed  its  history.16 

In  the  light  of  later  events,  the  platform  adopted  at  the 
Bloomington  Convention  seems  conservative.  It  simply  re 
buked  the  administration  for  its  attitude  on  the  Kansas  issue, 
the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  and  the  extension 
of  slavery  into  Territories.17 

When  the  first  flood  of  enthusiasm,  after  the  Bloomington 
Convention,  subsided,  a  mysterious  apathy,  a  stifling  indif 
ference,  met  the  new  movement,  a  no  unusual  phenomenon 
in  politics  or  human  affairs.  Such  a  time  had  now  come. 
It  was  at  this  period  dark  and  trying  that  Lincoln  towered 
in  lonely  grandeur.  It  was  easy  enough  to  be  brave  and 
vaunting  at  a  convention  when  thousands  hung  on  every 
word.  But  now  it  took  a  higher  heroism  to  be  true  to  the 
cause.  Then  Lincoln  did  not  flinch.  With  superb  step,  with 
elated  soul,  with  increasing  intrepidity,  he  continued  the 
championship  of  the  same  principles  that  took  captive  the 
delegates  at  Bloomington.  He  spoke  like  one  in  the  wilder 
ness. 

Lamon  tells  the  story  of  a  ratification  meeting  five  days 
after  the  Bloomington  Convention: — "Mr.  Herndon  got  out 
huge  posters,  announcing  the  event,  and  employed  a  band 
of  musicians  to  parade  the  streets  and  'drum  up  a  crowd.' 
As  the  hour  of  meeting  drew  near,  he  'lit  up  the  Court  House 
with  many  blazes,'  rung  the  bells  and  blew  a  horn.  At 
seven  o'clock  the  meeting  should  have  been  called  to  order, 
but  it  turned  out  to  be  extremely  slim.  There  was  nobody 

18  Tarbell,  1,  296.  "  Lamon,  376. 


The  Pilot  of  the  New  Faith  m  Illwow  193 

present,  with  all  those  brilliant  lights,  but  A.  Lincoln,  W. 
H.  Herndon  and  W.  H.  Pain.  'When  Lincoln  came  into 
the  Court-room,'  says  the  bill-poster  and  horn-blower  of  this 
great  demonstration,  'he  came  with  a  sadness  and  a  sense  of 
the  ludicrous  on  his  face.  He  walked  to  the  stand,  mounted 
it  in  a  kind  of  mockery, — mirth  and  sadness  all  combined, — 
and  said :  'Gentlemen,  this  meeting  is  larger  than  I  knew  it 
would  be.  I  knew  that  Herndon  and  myself  would  come, 
but  I  did  not  know  that  any  one  else  would  be  here ;  and  yet 
another  has  come, — you,  John  Pain.  These  are  sad  times, 
and  seem  out  of  joint.  All  seems  dead,  dead,  dead:  but  the 
age  is  not  yet  dead;  it  liveth  as  sure  as  our  Maker  liveth. 
Under  all  this  seeming  want  of  life  and  motion,  the  world 
does  move  nevertheless.  Be  hopeful.  Now  let  us  adjourn 
and  appeal  to  the  people.'  "  18 

In  June  the  first  National  Republican  Convention  met  at 
Philadelphia.  Young,  aggressive  and  flushed  with  enthu 
siasm,  it  put  forth  as  the  standard  bearer,  John  C.  Fre 
mont,  the  daring,  romantic  pathfinder.  Lincoln  received  one 
hundred  and  ten  votes  for  the  vice-presidency.  So  little  was 
this  distinction  anticipated,  that  at  first  he  refused  to  believe 
that  he  was  the  recipient  of  the  flattering  compliment,  saying 
that  it  must  have  been  the  great  Lincoln  from  Massachusetts. 

Like  the  Bloomington  gathering  the  National  Convention 
instinctively  linked  itself  in  strength  to  the  impressing  prin 
ciples  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  It  took  a  bolder 
and  more  advanced  stand  than  the  Illinois  Convention,  deny 
ing  the  authority  of  Congress  to  give  legal  existence  to 
slavery  in  any  Territory  and  that  it  was  its  right  and  duty  to 
prohibit  therein  those  "twin  relics  of  barbarism,  polygamy 
and  slavery."  19 

In  the  ensuing  campaign,  Lincoln,  as  a  presidential  elec 

^Lamon,  377-3T8.  "Nicolay  &  Hay,  2,  36-37. 


194  Lincoln  the  Politician 

tor  and  orator  towered  in  the  State  as  strong  in  his  invigo 
rating  championship  of  the  Republican  policies.  He  made 
fifty  speeches.  Indiana,  Wisconsin  and  Iowa  sent  for  him. 
The  impress  of  his  personality  was  humbly,  but  pervasively 
winning  the  hearts  and  minds  of  men.  One  man  wrote  with 
sure  faith,  "Come  to  our  place,  because  in  you  do  our  people 
place  more  confidence  than  in  any  other  man.  Men  who  do 
not  read  want  the  story  told  as  you  only  can  tell  it.  Others 
may  make  fine  speeches  but  it  would  not  be  'Lincoln  said  so 
in  his  speech.'  "  20  A  college  president  spoke  of  him  with 
reverence,  as,  "one  providentially  raised  up  for  a  time  like 
this,  and  even  should  defeat  come  in  the  contest,  it  would  be 
some  consolation  to  remember  we  had  Hector  for  a  leader."  21 

He  was  most  skillful  in  seeing  the  danger  of  Fillmore  as  a 
candidate  in  withholding  strength  from  Fremont.  He  studied 
the  problem  as  keenly  as  a  legal  proposition.  No  man  in  all 
of  the  United  States  saw  the  issues  more  plainly  or  could 
state  it  as  precisely.  To  a  Fillmore  man  he  wrote  that  every 
vote  withheld  from  Fremont  and  given  to  Fillmore  in  Illinois 
actually  lessened  Fillmore's  chance  of  being  President,  for 
if  Buchanan  got  all  the  slave  states  and  Pennsylvania,  and 
one  other  State,  he  would  be  elected,  but  if  Fillmore  got  the 
slave  states  of  Maryland  and  Kentucky,  then  Buchanan 
would  not  be  elected  and  Fillmore  would  go  into  the  House 
of  Representatives,  and  might  be  made  President  by  a  com 
promise.  Likewise  he  argued  that  if  Fillmore's  friends  threw 
away  a  few  thousand  votes  on  him  in  Indiana,  it  would  in 
evitably  give  those  states  to  Buchanan,  which  would  more 
than  compensate  him  for  the  loss  of  Maryland  and  Ken 
tucky  ;  that  it  was  as  plain  as  adding  up  the  weight  of  three 
small  hogs  for  Fillmore  who  had  no  possible  chance  to  carry 
Illinois  for  himself,  to  let  Fremont  take  it,  and  thus  keep 

^Herndon,  2,  56.  a  Ibid. 


Tlw  PUot  of  the  New  Faith  in  Illinois  195 

it  out  of  the  hands  of  Buchanan.  Lamon  remarks  that  this 
letter  was  discovered  by  the  Buchanan  men,  printed  in  their 
newspapers,  and  pronounced,  as  its  author  anticipated,  "a 
mean  trick,"  and  that  it  was  a  dangerous  document  to  them, 
and  was  calculated  to  undermine  the  very  citadel  of  their 
strength.  22 

Lincoln's  fear  of  Fillmore  was  justified  by  events.  While 
Fremont  was  defeated,  Bissel  the  Republican  was  elected 
Governor  by  a  fair  margin.  To  Lincoln,  the  defeat  of  Fre 
mont  was  prophetic  of  future  triumph.  With  infinitely 
surer  vision  than  President  Pierce,  he  perceived  the  trend  of 
events.  Beyond  seeming  setback,  he  beheld  the  triumphing 
movement.  He  likened  the  President  to  a  rejected  lover 
making  merry  at  the  wedding  of  his  rival,  in  felicitating  him 
self  hugely  over  the  late  presidential  election,  in  consider 
ing  the  result  a  signal  triumph  of  good  men,  and  a  very 
pointed  rebuke  of  bad  ones.  To  the  statement  of  Pierce  that 
the  people  did  it,  Lincoln  called  attention  to  the  fact  that 
those  who  voted  for  Buchanan,  were  in  a  minority  of  the 
whole  people  by  about  four  hundred  thousand  votes,  and 
thus  the  "rebuke"  might  not  be  quite  as  durable  as  he  seemed 
to  think  and  that  the  majority  might  not  choose  to  remain 
permanently  rebuked  by  that  minority.23 

Strong  in  the  belief  that  slavery  was  at  war  with  the  essen 
tial  spirit  of  the  Republic,  he  declared  that  the  government 
rested  on  public  opinion;  that  public  opinion,  on  any  subject, 
always  had  a  "central  idea,"  and  that  "central  idea"  in 
American  political  public  opinion  was  until  recently  "the 
equality  of  man,"  and  although  it  submitted  patiently  to 
some  inequality  as  a  matter  of  actual  necessity,  its  constant 
working  was  a  steady  progress  toward  the  practical  equality 
of  all  men  and  the  late  Presidential  election  was  a  struggle 

22  Lamon,  382.  »  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  225. 


196  Lmcoln  the  Politician 

by  one  party  to  discard  that  central  idea  and  to  substitute 
as  a  central  idea  the  perpetuity  of  human  slavery  and  its 
extension  to  all  countries  and  colors.24 

This  conviction  vivified  him  with  new  hopes.  The  leader 
called  to  those  in  the  valley  of  doubt  and  indifference  to 
leave  their  low-vaulted  chamber:  "Then  let  bygones  be  by 
gones;  let  past  differences  as  nothing  be;  and  with  steady 
eye  on  the  real  issue,  let  us  reinaugurate  the  good  old  'central 
idea'  of  the  republic.  We  can  do  it.  The  human  heart  is 
with  us;  God  is  with  us.  We  shall  again  be  able  not  to  de 
clare  that  'all  States  as  States  are  equal,'  nor  yet  that  'all 
citizens  as  citizens  are  equal,'  but  to  renew  the  broader,  better 
declaration,  including  both  these  and  much  more,  that  'all 
men  are  created  equal.'  "  25 

24  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  225.  *  Ibid.,  226. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

LINCOLN    AND    THE    DRED    SCOTT    DECISION 

WITH  unfailing  vision  Lincoln  was  attracted  to  the 
larger  issues  under  all  professed  and  alleged  reasons, 
both  North  and  South,  as  to  the  cause  of  difference  in  atti 
tude  on  the  slavery  question.  He  believed  it  was  largely  an 
industrial  and  economical  problem,  a  moral  conflict  in  the 
North  mainly  through  the  absence  of  a  controlling  material 
interest.  With  plain,  blunt  speech,  he  laid  bare  the  national 
cancer  in  October,  1856,  showing  that  there  was  no  difference 
in  the  mental  or  moral  structure  of  the  people  North  and 
South,  but  that  in  the  slavery  question  the  people  of  the 
South  had  an  immediate,  immense,  pecuniary  interest,  while 
with  the  people  of  the  North  it  was  merely  an  abstract  ques 
tion  of  moral  right. 

The  slaves  of  the  South,  he  continued,  were  worth  a  thou 
sand  millions  of  dollars,  and  that  financial  interest  united 
the  Southern  people  as  one  man ;  that  moral  principle  was  a 
looser  bond  than  pecuniary  interest.  Hence  if  a  Southern 
man  aspired  to  be  President,  they  choked  him  down,  that 
the  glittering  prize  of  the  presidency  might  be  held  up  on 
southern  terms  to  Northern  ambition.  And  their  conventions 
in  1848,  1852  and  1856  had  been  struggles  exclusively  among 
Northern  men,  each  vying  to  outbid  the  other,  the  South 
standing  calmly  by  finally  to  cry  "Going,  going,  gone"  to  the 
highest  bidder.1 

1  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  223. 

197 


198  Lincoln  the  Politician 

The  Dred  Scott  decision  throws  a  shadow  over  the  judicial 
history  of  the  United  States.  That  in  an  hour  of  crisis  the 
supreme  judicial  tribunal  should  ally  itself  with  the  potent 
institution  of  injustice  rather  than  with  humanity,  should 
interpret  the  principles  of  the  Constitution  and  the  Declara 
tion  of  Independence  in  a  paltry  and  impoverished  manner, 
should  cringe  before  title  and  power  and  grovel  in  gloom  in 
the  dawn  of  a  new  era  of  American  citizenship,  an  era  that 
was  to  hurl  its  thunderbolts  with  ever  increasing  daring 
against  the  further  advance  of  the  slave  sovereignty,  is 
baffling  and  astounding. 

Lincoln  realized  that  the  Supreme  Court  to  be  venerated, 
must  be  in  the  van,  and  not  a  laggard  in  the  world  spirit  and 
progress ;  a  guide  and  not  a  pupil  in  the  best  kind  of  citizen 
ship  and  sensitive  to  the  rising  tide  of  public  conscience. 
The  Dred  Scott  decision  did  more  than  any  malice  of  foe  to 
weaken  the  general  regard  for  the  august  tribunal — the  one 
supreme  discovery  of  American  politics. 

It  is  of  interest  to  study  Lincoln's  attitude  to  this  deci 
sion  and  to  the  tribunal  responsible  for  it.  Above  most 
men,  he  had  preached  the  gospel  of  sacred  devotion  to  law 
and  to  the  iniquity  of  mob  rule.  He  was  an  enemy  of  all 
violence.  Yet  he  rebelliously  abided  the  adjudication  that 
made  the  prospective  emancipation  of  the  black  man  more 
uncertain,  that  imprisoned  the  enlightened  principles  of  the 
Fathers  of  the  Republic,  that  manacled  America  in  her  Titan 
march  on  the  highway  of  humanity. 

Lincoln  maintained  in  1857  that  judicial  decisions  had 
two  uses,  to  absolutely  determine  the  case  decided,  and  to 
indicate  to  the  public  how  other  similar  cases  would  be  de 
cided.  Lincoln  then  argued  that  if  the  decision  had  been 
made  by  the  unanimous  concurrence  of  the  judges,  without 
partisan  bias,  in  accordance  with  legal  public  expectation, 


Lwcotn  and  the  Dred  Scott  Decision  199 

and  in  no  part  based  on  assumed  historical  facts  which  were 
not  really  true ;  or  if  it  had  been  before  the  court  more  than 
once,  and  had  there  been  reaffirmed  through  a  course  of 
years,  it  then  might  be  even  revolutionary  not  to  acquiesce  in 
it  as  a  precedent.2 

Still,  by  the  side  of  the  impassioned  outbreaks  of  the  abo 
litionists  and  radicals  this  criticism  seems  cold  and  measured. 
But  Lincoln  with  his  usual  apprehension  justified  his  oppo 
sition  by  democratic  example.  He  confounded  Douglas  by 
recalling  the  action  of  his  ideal  Jackson  on  a  Whig  measure, 
the  National  Bank,  with  the  statement  that  the  same  Supreme 
Court  once  decided  a  national  bank  to  be  constitutional; 
but  President  Jackson  disregarded  the  decision,  and  vetoed 
a  bill  for  the  recharter,  partly  on  constitutional  ground  de 
claring  that  each  public  functionary  must  support  the  Con 
stitution  as  he  understood  it.  And  then  to  the  further  dis 
comfiture  of  Douglas  he  declared  that  again  and  again  he 
had  heard  Judge  Douglas  denounce  that  bank  decision  and 
applaud  General  Jackson  for  disregarding  it;  that  it  would 
be  interesting  for  him  to  look  over  his  recent  speech,  and 
see  how  exactly  his  fierce  philippics  against  resisting  Su 
preme  Court  decisions  fell  upon  his  own  head.3  Still  Douglas 
might  have  retorted  that  in  those  days  the  Whigs  were  vio 
lent  in  their  denunciation  of  General  Jackson  for  that  very 
opposition. 

In  the  same  speech  Lincoln  burst  into  indignant  eloquence 
at  the  policy  that  was  a  departure  from  the  old  ideas  of  jus 
tice  and  liberty  and  the  still  more  radiant  hope  of  the  future 
indulged  in  by  Washington,  Jefferson  and  Franklin,  that 
in  time  slavery  would  no  longer  darken  or  endanger  the 
national  life,  for  Lincoln  said  that  in  those  days  the  Declara 
tion  was  held  sacred  by  all,  and  thought  to  include  all;  but 

a  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  228.  3  Ibid.,  229. 


#00  Lmcoln  the  Politician 

that  at  this  time  it  was  construed,  hawked  at  and  torn,  till, 
if  its  framers  could  rise  from  their  graves,  they  could  not 
at  all  recognize  it.  He  observed  that  all  the  powers  of  earth 
seemed  rapidly  combining  against  the  negro ;  that  Mammon, 
ambition,  philosophy  and  theology  of  the  day  were  fast  join 
ing  the  cry;  that  they  had  him  in  his  prison-house,  bolted 
in  with  a  lock  of  a  hundred  keys,  which  could  never  be  un 
locked  without  the  concurrence  of  every  key — the  keys  in 
the  hands  of  a  hundred  different  men,  and  they  scattered  to 
a  hundred  and  distant  places;  and  they  still  stood  musing 
as  to  what  invention,  in  all  the  dominions  of  mind  and  mat 
ter,  could  be  produced  to  make  the  impossibility  of  his  escape 
more  complete  than  it  was.4 

Less  than  a  decade  of  history  proved  Lincoln  wiser  than 
those  who  framed  the  momentous  majority  opinion  in  the 
Dred  Scott  case.  Lincoln  was  learned  not  alone  in  legal 
knowledge,  but  was  also  familiar  with  the  mighty  national 
movements  that  laugh  laws  and  decisions  to  scorn ;  that  ulti 
mately  and  finally  determine  progress.  These  judges  were 
students  of  the  past,  slaves  of  precedent,  defenders  of  an 
tiquity,  while  Lincoln  was  a  student  of  the  present  and  the 
future  and  the  ambassador  of  abiding  justice.  He  had  as 
deep  and  ultimate  a  knowledge  of  the  national  character  and 
capacity  as  the  statesman,  and  was  a  student  of  political 
and  social  progress  in  order  to  follow  and  wisely  lead  the 
deep  public  sentiment  and  conscience  that  alone  measures 
true  civilization. 
4  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  231. 


CHAPTER  XIV 


LEADER    OF    THE    REPUBLICAN    PARTY    IN    ILLINOIS 


pages  in  our  history  present  a  darker  picture  than 
the  ruffianism  of  the  friends  of  slavery  in  Kansas,  and 
the  retaliating  spirit  of  its  opponents.  Still,  the  gloom  is 
illumined  by  patriotic  politicians,  democratic  slave  holders 
and  sympathizers,  who  sternly  put  duty  before  party.  There 
are  few  more  glorious  incidents  in  our  political  annals  than 
the  unwavering  fidelity  of  Robert  J.  Walker  of  Mississippi. 
As  Governor  of  Kansas  he  lived  up  to  his  public  pledges, 
though  the  offer  of  the  Presidency  of  the  United  States  was 
dangled  before  him.1  Like  Washington,  himself,  Walker  tow 
ered  above  temptation.  If  the  Mississippi  statesman  had 
held  the  place  of  Buchanan,  slavery,  instead  of  being  nursed 
by  the  palsied  policy  of  the  Northern  statesman,  would  have 
been  startled  by  another  Jackson,  and  the  nation  might  have 
owed  its  salvation  to  a  Southern  leader  instead  of  to  the 
prairie  politician. 

In  the  fine  language  of  Seward:  "The  ghosts  on  the  banks 
of  the  Styx  constitute  a  cloud  scarcely  more  dense  than  the 
spirits  of  the  departed  Governors  of  Kansas,  wandering  in 
exile  and  sorrow  for  having  certified  the  truth  against  false 
hood  in  regard  to  the  elections  between  Freedom  and  Slavery 
in  Kansas."  2  The  strange  fact  above  all  is  that  the  admis 
sion  of  Kansas  as  a  slave  state  against  the  wishes  of  its 
people  was  not  asked  for  by  the  South.  It  was  freely  ten- 

'Gilmore,  9-104.  2Nicolay  &  Hay,  2,  118. 

201 


Lincoln  the  Politician 

dered  to  the  slave  dynasty  by  a  majority  of  northern  demo 
crats  in  the  executive  and  legislative  branches  of  the  Gov 
ernment.3  And  so  again  the  North  shared  with  the  South 
in  the  zeal  for  spreading  slavery. 

The  final  scene  in  the  drama  was  the  Lecompton  Constitu 
tion.  Douglas  then  saw  the  fatal  result  that  Lincoln  had 
foretold  in  his  June  speech  of  1857,  when  he  declared  that 
Douglas,  since  the  famous  Nebraska  Bill,  saw  himself  super 
seded  in  a  presidential  nomination  by  one  generally  endors 
ing  his  measure,  but  standing  clear  of  the  odium  of  its  un 
timely  agitation  and  its  violation  of  the  national  faith;  that 
he  saw  his  chief  aids  in  his  own  State,  politically  speaking, 
successfully  tried,  convicted  and  executed  for  an  offense  not 
their  own,  but  his,  and  that  now  he  saw  his  own  case  standing 
next  on  the  docket  for  trial.4 

Northern  Democrats  refused  to  brook  longer  the  crime  in 
Kansas.  To  refuse  submission  of  the  Constitution  to  that 
people  made  a  mockery  of  the  popular  sovereignty  of  Doug 
las.  With  desperate  constancy  he  had  impressed  that  great 
principle,  as  he  called  it,  on  his  constituency.  It  was  now 
so  shorn  of  all  dignity  that  even  a  child  might  see  it.  He 
either  had  to  lose  Illinois  or  fight  the  policy  of  the  adminis 
tration.  Once  having  decided  to  differ  he  took  a  bold  stand. 
No  Abolitionist  or  Republican  used  plainer  or  more  impel 
ling  language :  "But  if  this  Constitution  is  to  be  forced  down 
our  throats,  in  violation  of  the  fundamental  principles  of 
free  government,  under  a  mode  of  submission  that  is  a  mock 
ery  and  insult,  I  will  resist  it  to  the  last.  I  have  no  fear  of 
any  party  associations  being  severed.  I  should  regret  any 
social  or  political  estrangement,  even  temporarily;  but  if 
it  must  be,  if  I  cannot  act  with  you  and  preserve  my  faith 
and  my  honor,  I  will  stand  on  the  great  principle  of  popular 

"Sheahan,  326.  4  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  231. 


Leader  of  the  Republican  Party  in  Illinois         203 

sovereignty,  which  declares  the  right  of  all  people  to  be  left 
perfectly  free  to  form  and  regulate  their  domestic  institu 
tions  in  their  own  way.  I  will  follow  that  principle  wherever 
its  logical  consequences  may  take  me,  and  I  will  endeavor  to 
defend  it  against  assault  from  any  and  all  quarters.  No 
mortal  man  shall  be  responsible  for  my  action  but  myself."  5 

The  former  distinction  of  Douglas  as  a  slave  advocate 
made  his  seeming  accession  to  the  ranks  of  its  opponents  all 
the  more  marked.  Stirring  stories  were  told  of  his  peerless 
courage  when  Buchanan  told  him  to  remember  that  no  Demo 
crat  ever  yet  differed  from  an  administration  of  his  own 
choice  without  being  crushed,  and  to  beware  of  the  fate  of 
Tallmadge  and  Rives. 

"Mr.  President,"  retorted  Douglas,  "I  wish  you  to  remem 
ber  that  General  Jackson  is  dead."  6  Like  an  undaunted 
Abolitionist  he  flung  aside  all  compromise,  refused  to  accede 
to  the  English  bill  that  many  administration  opponents  wel 
comed  as  an  exit  from  the  dilemma  of  party  recusancy.  Many 
began  to  believe  that  Douglas  was  about  to  turn  into  a  black 
Republican.  He  had  stolen  conferences  with  their  leaders, 
inducing  them  to  believe  that  it  was  policy  for  him  to  con 
ceal  his  present  real  intention ;  that  he  would  soon  unmask 
himself  and  fight  their  battles.  He  often  said  that  he  had 
checked  all  his  baggage  and  taken  a  through  ticket.7 

He  convinced  his  foes  that  the  Nebraska  bill  was  a  daring 
device  in  behalf  of  freedom.  One  Republican  said  that  the 
plan  of  Douglas  for  destroying  the  Missouri  line  and  thereby 
opening  the  way  for  the  march  of  freedom  beyond  the  limits 
forever  prohibited  and  conceded  to  belong  to  the  Slave 
States,  and  its  march  westward,  from  the  British  possessions 
to  Mexico,  struck  him  "as  the  most  magnificent  scheme  ever 

6  Sheahan,  319.  T  Lamon,  390. 

8  Nicolay  &  Hay,  2,  120. 


Lmcoln  the  Politician 

conceived  by  the  human  mind."  This  kind  of  conversation 
made  the  deepest  impression  upon  his  hearers,  and  often 
changed  their  opinion  of  the  man.8 

In  this  way,  Douglas  triumphantly  vindicated  his  policy 
of  popular  sovereignty  for  which  he  protested  he  was  willing 
to  devote  all  his  talent  and  the  remainder  of  his  life.  The 
very  prospect  of  such  a  convert  dazzled  the  vision  of  even 
radicals  like  Greeley.  So  these  visionaries  wandered  in  the 
dreamland  of  politics,  and  were  eager  to  enter  into  an  un 
holy  alliance.  Even  shrewd  leaders  in  the  party  built  bridges 
for  the  entering  of  Douglas.  It  was  rumored  that  Seward 
and  others  were  in  the  plot.9 

A  letter  from  Herndon  in  1858  vividly  shows  the  political 
condition  of  this  time.  Speaking  of  Greeley  he  said,  "He 
evidently  wants  Douglas  sustained  and  sent  back  to  the 
Senate.  He  did  not  say  so  in  so  many  words,  yet  his  -feel 
ings  are  with  Douglas.  I  know  it  from  the  spirit  and  drift 
of  his  conversation.  He  talked  bitterly — somewhat  so — 
against  the  papers  in  Illinois,  and  said  they  were  fools.  I 
asked  him  this  question,  'Greeley,  do  you  want  to  see  a  third 
party  organized,  or  do  you  want  Douglas  to  ride  to  power 
through  the  North,  which  he  has  so  much  abused  and  be 
trayed?'  and  to  which  he  replied,  'Let  the  future  alone;  it 
will  all  come  right.  Douglas  is  a  brave  man.  Forget  the 
past  and  sustain  the  righteous.'  Good  God,  righteous, 
eh!  ...  By-the-bye,  Greeley  remarked  to  me  this,  'The  Re 
publican  standard  is  too  high ;  we  want  something  practical.' 
.  .  .  The  Northern  Men  are  cold  to  me — somewhat  repel- 
lant."  10 

Douglas,  after  a  heroic  combat  with  the  administration 
and  after  his  triumphant  championship  of  the  rights  of  the 
people  of  Kansas,  returned  as  a  conqueror  to  Illinois.  He 

"Lamon,  390-391.  9 Herndon,  1,  395.  "Ibid.,  Q,  63-64. 


Leader  of  the  Republican  Party  in  Illinois          205 

was  the  ideal  of  the  Democrats  of  his  state,  save  of  a  few 
office  holders  under  Buchanan.  With  Lincoln  it  was  other 
wise.  Despite  his  brilliant  and  consecrated  service  to  the 
Republican  principles,  even  in  Illinois,  in  the  home  of  his 
friends,  all  was  not  yet  serene;  he  was  not  yet  to  taste  the 
sweetness  of  hero  worship.  Too  proud  to  resort  to  dramatic 
effects,  slow  to  express  his  resentment,  he  was  almost  jealous 
of  the  supremacy  of  his  rival.  A  veteran  in  the  service  of 
freedom,  he  hardly  welcomed  the  possible  entrance  of  his  old 
foe  into  the  Republican  arena.  Mingled  with  personal  feel 
ing,  was  his  knowledge  of  the  crafty  career  of  his  opponent. 
Lincoln  was  not  content  that  Douglas  should  gain  the  laurel 
of  a  triumphant  movement  in  the  hour  of  victory. 

Not  alone  did  Lincoln  fear  dissension  in  his  own  state, 
but  he  was  also  afraid  that  Douglas  might  be  taken  up  by 
the  Republican  leaders  of  the  party.  He  grew  restless  and 
gloomy  at  the  unjust  attitude  of  Greeley,  an  attitude  that 
quite  vanquished  him.  To  Herndon  he  unburdened  himself, 
"I  think  Greeley  is  not  doing  me  right.  His  conduct,  I  be 
lieve,  savors  a  little  of  injustice.  I  am  a  true  Republican  and 
have  been  tried  already  in  the  hottest  part  of  the  anti-slavery 
fight,  and  yet  I  find  him  taking  up  Douglas,  a  veritable 
dodger, — once  a  tool  of  the  South,  now  its  enemy, — and 
pushing  him  to  the  front.  He  forgets  that  when  he  does 
that  he  pulls  me  down  at  the  same  time.  I  fear  Greeley's 
attitude  will  damage  me  with  Sumner,  Seward,  Wilson,  Phil 
lips  and  other  friends  in  the  East."  u 

He  had  slowly  gained  the  confidence,  more  than  he  realized, 
of  the  rank  of  his  party.  Though  loyalty  to  him  was  less 
pretentious,  it  was  not  the  less  sincere.  The  Republicans 
in  Illinois  did  not  trust  Douglas;  they  were  not  deceived 
by  his  marvelous  strategy.  Pursuant  to  a  wide  spread  sen- 
11  Herndon,  2,  60. 


206  Lincoln  the  Politician 

timent,  the  Republican  state  convention,  with  unanimity 
adopted  the  significant  resolution:  "That  Hon.  Abraham 
Lincoln  is  our  first  and  only  choice  for  United  States  Sena 
tor  to  fill  the  vacancy  about  to  be  created  by  the  expiration 
of  Mr.  Douglas'  term  of  office."  12 

One  incident  shows  the  enthusiasm  of  the  hour.  Cook 
County  brought  a  banner  into  the  convention  inscribed, 
"Cook  County  for  Abraham  Lincoln."  A  delegate  from  an 
other  county  proposed  to  amend  the  banner  by  substituting 
for  "Cook  County"  the  word  "Illinois."  "The  Cook  delega 
tion  promptly  accepted  the  amendment,  and  during  a  hur 
ricane  of  hurrahs,  the  banner  was  altered  to  express  the 
sentiment  of  the  whole  Republican  party  of  the  State."  13 

"  Herndon,  2,  65. 
18  Tarbell,  1,  305. 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE  DAWN  OF  NATIONAL  LEADERSHIP 

F  N  anticipation  of  his  nomination  as  Senator,  Lincoln  had 
A  carefully  prepared  an  address  of  acceptance.  It  was  de 
livered  on  the  17th  of  June,  1858,  in  the  presence  of  an 
immense  audience  at  Springfield.  At  the  time,  it  was  per 
haps  the  most  radical  speech  that  had  yet  burst  forth  from 
a  Republican  statesman.  It  is  not  strange  that  it  astounded 
his  friends.  It  baffled  their  comprehension  to  find  him  at  a 
single  stride  in  the  front  rank  of  the  radicals.  Herndon, 
the  aggressive  abolitionist,  was  alike  bewildered,  saying  of 
the  first  paragraph  that  it  was  true;  but  asking  if  it  was 
entirely  politic  to  read  or  speak  it  as  it  was  written.  Lin 
coln  said  that  it  made  no  difference;  that  it  was  a  truth  of 
all  human  experience ;  that  he  wanted  to  use  some  universally 
known  figure,  expressed  in  simple  language  as  universally 
known  that  might  strike  home  to  the  minds  of  men,  in  order 
to  rouse  them  to  the  peril  of  the  times ;  that  he  would  rather 
be  defeated  with  that  expression  in  the  speech,  and  have  it 
held  up  and  discussed  before  the  people,  than  to  be  vic 
torious  without  it.1 

Lamon  questioned  whether  Lincoln  had  a  clear  right  to 
indulge  in  such  a  venture,  as  a  representative  party  man  in 
a  close  contest,  having  other  interests  than  his  own  in  charge, 
and  bound  to  respect  the  opinions,  and  secure  the  success 
of  his  party.  Lamon  states  that  at  the  Bloomington  Con- 
1  Lamon,  397. 

207 


208  Lincoln  the  Politician 

vention  he  uttered  the  same  ideas  in  almost  the  same  words ; 
and  their  recognition  of  a  state  of  incipient  civil  war  in  a 
country  for  the  most  part  profoundly  peaceful, — these,  and 
the  bloody  work  which  might  come  of  their  acceptance  by  a 
great  party,  had  filled  the  minds  of  some  of  his  hearers 
with  the  most  painful  apprehensions ;  the  theory  was  equally 
shocking  to  them,  whether  as  partisans  or  as  patriots. 
Begged  to  suppress  such  speech  in  the  future,  he  vindicated 
his  utterance,  but  after  much  persuasion,  promised  at  length 
not  to  repeat  it.2 

The  night  before  its  delivery,  at  a  gathering  of  his  close 
friends,  Lincoln  slowly  read  the  first  paragraph.  No  uncer 
tain,  unsparing  criticisms  followed.  It  was  called  "a  fool 
utterance,"  ahead  of  the  time,  a  statement  that  would 
frighten  many  voters.3  Only  one  auditor,  his  partner,  ap 
proved  the  far-reaching  statement,  saying,  "Lincoln,  deliver 
it  just  as  it  reads.  It  is  in  advance  of  the  times,  let  us — 
you  and  I,  if  no  one  else — lift  the  people  to  the  level  of 
this  speech  now,  higher  hereafter.  The  speech  is  true,  wise 
and  politic,  and  will  succeed  now  or  in  the  future.  Nay,  it 
will  aid  you,  if  it  will  not  make  you  President  of  the  United 
States." 

Then  Lincoln  rose  from  his  chair,  walked  backwards  and 
forwards  in  the  hall,  stopped  and  said  that  he  had  thought 
about  the  matter  a  great  deal,  had  weighed  the  question 
from  all  corners,  and  was  thoroughly  convinced  the  time  had 
come  when  it  should  be  uttered ;  and  that  if  he  must  go  down 
because  of  that  speech,  he  would  go  down  linked  to  truth, 
and  would  say  again  and  again  that  the  nation  could  not 
live  on  injustice.4 

This  speech  stands  alone  among  American  orations.  Cap 
tivating  in  its  logic,  marvellous  in  its  directness,  condensed 

3  Lamon,  397-398.  8  Herndon,  2,  68.  4  Lamon,  399, 


The  Dawn  of  National  Leadership  209 

in  utterance,  it  is  as  true  to  Lincoln  as  the  reply  to  Hayne 
was  to  Webster.  It  is  one  of  the  most  momentous  addresses 
in  American  history.  It  became  the  angry  battle  ground  of 
local  and  general  campaigns.  It  directed  the  issues  of  na 
tional  parties.  In  a  transitional  period  with  the  hand  of 
genius  it  peerlessly  traced  party  demarcation  lines.  For  the 
moment  in  advance  of  the  national  progress  it  soon  became 
the  very  gospel  of  multitudes,  the  war  cry  of  the  friends  of 
the  Union.  Plainer  to  the  average  man  than  the  fine  phrase 
of  Seward  as  to  "the  irrepressible  conflict,"  it  brought  home 
to  the  daily  worker  the  issues  of  the  hour,  put  him  face  to 
face  with  the  deep  meaning  of  the  whole  struggle  going  on 
in  his  very  presence.  Its  strength  was  in  this — that  it  put 
in  clear  speech  the  question  that  was  agitating  the  common 
mind  and  thus  gave  it  form  and  being  before  other  men. 
With  prophetic  solemnity  he  indulged  in  the  philosophic 
utterance  that  the  slavery  agitation  would  not  cease  until  a 
crisis  should  be  reached  and  passed,  saying :  "  'A  house  di 
vided  against  itself  cannot  stand.'  I  believe  this  government 
cannot  endure  permanently  half  slave  and  half  free.  I  do 
not  expect  the  Union  to  be  dissolved, — I  do  not  expect  the 
house  to  fall;  but  I  do  expect  that  it  will  cease  to  be  divided. 
It  will  become  all  one  thing,  or  all  the  other.  Either  the 
opponents  of  slavery  will  arrest  the  further  spread  of  it, 
and  place  it  where  the  public  mind  shall  rest  in  the  belief 
that  it  is  the  course  of  ultimate  distinction,  or  its  advocates 
will  push  it  forward  till  it  shall  become  alike  lawful  in  all 
the  states, — old  as  well  as  new,  North  as  well  as  South."  5 

Lincoln  in  the  loneliness  of  his  soul  passed  upon  the  solemn 
issue  that  the  hour  for  speech  and  action  had  come ;  that 
the  time  of  compromise  was  over;  that  justice  would  no 
longer  be  trifled  with;  that  the  law  of  humanity  spurned 

B  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  240. 


#10  Lincoln  the  Politician 

further  outrage.  He  gave  voice  to  the  hitherto  silent  senti 
ments  of  many.  The  period  for  the  judicious  utterance  of 
radical  truth  had  come.  In  a  few  years  what  then  seemed 
the  outburst  of  a  perverted  attitude  became  the  common 
thought  of  the  multitude. 

And  so  again  Lincoln  showed  his  keen  sense  of  the  drift 
of  events.  In  this  he  was  wiser  than  the  pure  politicians. 
When  events  justified  his  foresight,  some  were  found  who 
cherished  the  notion  that  Lincoln  was  guided  by  self-seeking 
motives  in  his  radical  advocacy.  Two  biographers  think  that 
Lincoln  was  quietly  dreaming  of  the  Presidency,  and  edging 
himself  to  a  place  in  advance,  where  the  tide  might  take  him 
up  in  1860 ;  that  as  sectional  animosities,  far  from  subsiding, 
were  growing  deeper  and  stronger  with  time,  Lincoln  knew 
that  the  next  nominee  of  the  exclusively  Northern  party  must 
be  a  man  of  radical  views,  and  so  the  speech  was  intended 
to  take  the  wind  out  of  Seward's  sails.6 

The  biographer  who  sees  a  plotting,  scheming  Lincoln 
in  all  this  is  far  from  understanding  the  real  man.  For 
mingled  with  his  political  sagacity  was  a  sublime  communion 
with  the  mighty  spirit  of  world  justice.  Elated  at  the  ap 
proaching  clash  of  freedom  and  slavery,  believing  that  out 
of  the  conflict  would  come  a  better  humanity,  he  rejoicingly 
dwelt  in  the  pure  realm  of  the  unfettered  utterance  of  a 
truth,  far  above  the  stifling  valley  of  commonplace  diplo 
macy.  To  him  it  was  a  rare  moment  of  utter  freedom  with 
out  calculation,  moving  through  regions  of  unclouded  jus 
tice  and  righteous  outlook. 

Criticism  bitter  and  biting  of  political  friends  did  not 

shake  his  serenity  or  his  belief  in  his  diagnosis  of  the  national 

disease.     He  lived  so  long  with  the  solution,  that  he  showed 

the  calmness  of  a  historian  in  judging  passing  events.     Slow 

6Lamon,  406. 


The  Dawn  of  National  Leadership 

to  value  highly  his  own  service,  he  was  proudly  aware  of  the 
intrinsic  worth  of  this  utterance.  To  a  friend  who  said 
that  the  foolish  speech  would  kill  him,  Lincoln  replied  that 
if  he  had  to  draw  a  pen  across,  and  erase  his  whole  life  from 
existence,  and  he  had  one  poor  gift  or  choice  left,  as  to  what 
he  would  save  from  the  wreck,  he  would  choose  that  speech, 
and  leave  it  to  the  world  unerased.7 

Withal,  the  speech  was  wisely  framed.  It  aroused  the  fear 
of  the  Northerners  with  the  statement  that  they  would  lie 
down  pleasantly  dreaming  that  the  people  of  Missouri  were 
on  the  verge  of  making  their  State  free,  and  they  would 
awake  to  the  reality  instead  that  the  Supreme  Court  had 
made  Illinois  a  slave  state.8  The  dread  that  slavery  might 
invade  the  free  States  of  the  North,  as  it  ceased  to  be  some 
thing  more  than  a  possibility,  haunted  and  horrified  the 
North.  Some  who  bore  with  complacency  the  servitude  of  the 
black  men  in  the  distance  fumed  with  anger  as  they  con 
templated  even  a  prospect  of  a  closer  relation  of  the  insti 
tution.  Thus  the  self  interest  of  the  North  was  played  upon. 
This  practical  danger  more  than  all  abstract  arguments 
awakened  free  communities.  Douglas  saw  the  danger  of  this 
appeal.  He  could  no  longer  hold  North  and  South.  It  put 
him  on  the  defensive.  Lincoln  forced  the  fighting.  It  be 
came  necessary  for  Douglas  to  make  the  speech  of  Lincoln 
the  basis  of  his  discussion. 

Lincoln  weighed  his  speech  at  its  soul  value,  and  measured 
its  truth  and  worth  in  lonely  struggle.  No  counsel  could 
stay  his  purpose.  He  had  come  upon  another  crisis  in  his 
career.  He  could  no  longer  compromise  with  himself  in 
safety,  the  hour  of  decision  could  not  be  delayed.  He  faced 
defeat  in  all  its  darkness  but  afar  he  saw  the  star  of  simple 
duty.  If  he  had  faltered  or  cringed  he  might  have  become 

7Lamon,  407.  8  Lincoln's  Speeches,  1,  244, 


Lincoln  the  Politician 

Senator,  but  that  distinction  only  would  have  crowned  him. 
He  had  the  rare  perception  of  knowing  when  to  be  firm  as 
the  earth  beneath,  of  distinguishing  between  policy  and  prin 
ciple,  of  ever  keeping  his  integrity  unsullied  by  barter  or  bar 
gain.  It  is  noteworthy  that  the  very  speech,  politicians 
deemed  the  graveyard  of  his  career  in  reality  became  his 
apotheosis.  The  politician  of  Illinois  became  a  national 
leader.  From  that  time,  he  loomed  large  in  the  history  of 
the  Republican  party  and  was  regarded  as  wise  in  counsel 
and  brave  in  speech.  Before  Seward,  he  put  in  concrete 
utterance  the  very  philosophy  of  Republicanism.  And  that 
party  had  reason  to  regard  him  with  favor  as  a  possible 
guide  in  the  gathering  contest. 

This  speech  gave  Lincoln  a  prominence  that  led  to  the 
dramatic  debates  with  Douglas  and  that  fastened  the  atten 
tion  of  the  nation  on  the  combat.  The  Lincoln-Douglas 
controversy  was  the  fruition  of  this  Springfield  speech.  This 
address  is  the  most  fitting  line  of  demarcation  between  Lin 
coln  the  Citizen  of  Illinois  and  Lincoln  the  Citizen  of  the 
United  States. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE  POLITICAL  PHILOSOPHY  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

rilHE  political  condition  of  a  nation  is  a  symptom  of  its 
-••  health  or  disease.  Official  corruption  is  an  unfailing 
sign  of  national  degeneration.  Art,  science  and  commerce 
may  thrive,  yet  if  dishonesty  and  selfishness  rule  in  the  ad 
ministration  of  public  affairs,  there  is  no  substantial 
progress.  The  real  civilization  of  a  nation  can  advance  little 
beyond  the  state  of  public  service.  When  citizens  are  in 
different  to  the  general  welfare,  when  the  rights  of  the  many 
are  entrusted  to  the  designing,  when  talent  is  dedicated  to 
the  acquisition  of  wealth  or  the  mere  promotion  of  art,  then 
in  spite  of  mountain  high  learning  and  world  wide  commer 
cial  prosperity,  a  nation  is  in  the  domain  of  danger. 

A  crisis  reveals  the  potency  of  the  politician  and  states 
man.  When  war  or  internal  conflict  shows  its  "wrinkled 
front,"  then  the  merchant,  the  manufacturer,  the  artist,  and 
the  scientist  forget  their  pride.  The  true  politician  is  the 
incarnation  of  civil  patriotism  and  guards  the  nation  during 
the  long  days  of  peace,  with  an  unfailing  heroism  like  that 
of  the  soldier  in  the  sudden  test  of  war.  The  devotion  of 
the  civil  hero  is  not  spectacular  and  is  often  undervalued. 
The  whole  history  of  humanity  has  been  a  giant  effort  to 
beget  a  democracy  where  the  genius  of  the  few  shall  become 
the  possession  of  many.  When  a  nation  cannot  command 
the  best  heart  and  brain  of  its  citizens  for  its  service  it  is 
bankrupt. 

213 


Lincoln  the  Politician 

The  problem  of  Democratic  government  is  the  maintenance 
of  a  just  balance  between  the  radical  and  conservative  ele 
ments  of  society,  between  anarchy  and  apathy.  American 
history  was  for  a  long  time  largely  a  struggle  between  vis 
ionary  abolitionist  and  slavery  adherent.  Northern  reform 
ers  turned  all  Southerners  into  vigorous  advocates  of  human 
bondage,  while  Southern  radicals  finally  abolitionized  the 
North.  Slaveholders  were  the  children  of  a  long  estab 
lished  selfish  interest.  Abolitionists  were  possessed  of  a 
vision.  Neither  understood  the  other.  Rock  and  cloud  were 
not  more  unlike.  Each  saw  only  the  injustice  in  the  oppos 
ing  position,  and  had  no  charity  for  the  environment  and 
traditions  of  the  other.  There  could  be  no  compromise  be 
tween  a  Wendell  Phillips  and  a  Preston  Brooks.  War  was 
the  only  solution. 

Statesmanship  looks  to  the  preservation  of  the  primal  prin 
ciples  of  the  Republic,  favors  the  general  welfare  whenever 
circumstances  permit,  seeks  its  progressive  evolution,  en 
courages  prudent  reform,  a  reform  that  is  not  the  parent  of 
reaction.  It  avoids  alike  the  radicalism  of  the  demagogue 
and  the  stagnation  of  the  materialist.  While  stupid  con 
servatism  is  unwittingly  the  main  friend  of  anarchy,  states 
manship  is  its  chief  foe.  The  stability  of  the  Republic  de 
pends  on  wise  leadership,  courageous  enough  to  combat  vio 
lence  on  the  one  hand  and  greed  on  the  other. 

Egoism  and  foolish  fears  are  the  chief  obstacles  of  human 
progress.  Self  interest  being  the  main  source  of  human  ac 
tion,  it  is  the  problem  of  the  politician  to  quicken  the  public 
conscience  and  convince  the  community  that  advancement 
and  enlightened  selfishness  are  companions.  Altruism  is  a 
large  factor  in  human  evolution,  yet  not  so  basic  that  it  may 
be  made  the  foundation  of  abiding  government.  It  is  a  high 
mission  to  lead  the  people  to  the  conception  of  making  self 


The  Political  Philosophy  of  Abraham  Lincoln 

interest  an  every  day  servant  of  the  general  welfare. 

Expediency  is  as  essential  to  the  triumph  of  right  as  to 
that  of  wrong.  Cunning  materialism  may  vanquish  virtue 
that  is  a  stranger  to  wisdom,  but  prudent  integrity  never 
knows  final  defeat.  The  following  of  visions  without  purpose 
is  as  vain  as  the  worship  of  debasing  worldliness.  Politics 
is  a  larger  phase  of  life  than  the  idealist  comprehends,  while 
ideas  are  more  dominant  than  politicians  dream. 

In  an  ideal  state  diplomats  would  be  no  more  essential 
than  the  physician,  lawyer,  jurist  and  minister.  Compro 
mise  finds  its  basis  in  human  weakness,  conservatism  and 
selfishness.  The  history  of  humanity  is  written  in  blood 
and  tears  largely  because  men  have  been  prone  to  passion 
and  prejudice  rather  than  true  to  reason  and  judgment. 
Politics  is  the  art  of  securing  results  in  government.  It  is 
a  study  of  success  applied  to  legislation  and  administration. 

There  are  few  problems  of  larger  moment  than  the  gen 
eral  acceptance  of  the  wisest  policy  in  combating  established 
and  organized  evil.  Civilization  itself  depends  on  the  man 
ner  in  which  the  unresting  battle  between  the  constructive 
and  destructive  forces  in  society  is  conducted  and  decided. 
Mighty  empires  have  flourished  and  fallen,  democracies  have 
sprung  to  life  and  decayed,  dauntless  protesters  have  sacri 
ficed  on  the  altar  of  conviction,  even  nations  under  the 
spirit  of  high  impulses  have  for  a  short  time  followed  the 
banner  of  the  brotherhood  of  man.  Yet  in  spite  of  ages 
of  progress,  of  heroic  martyrdom,  the  battle  is  still  of  the 
same  character  as  the  conflict  was  on  the  plains  of  Palestine, 
the  banks  of  the  Nile  and  the  seven  hills  of  Rome.  Human 
nature  has  changed  largely  in  outer  manifestations,  not  in 
essential  character.  The  selfishness  of  man,  vested  interests, 
fear  of  change,  still  stand  in  the  way  of  righteous  reforms, 
which  are  now  as  bitterly  contested  as  they  were  by  the  patri- 


216  Lincoln  the  Politician 

cians  of  Latium  and  the  barons  of  the  middle  ages.  In  the 
conflicts  of  centuries  good  men  have  sunk  sometimes  in  a 
fearless,  sometimes  in  an  imprudent  encounter  with  the  host 
of  cohesive  and  malignant  interests.  Selfish  motives  unite 
the  supporters  of  evil,  while  the  forces  of  righteousness  are 
often  discordant  and  rent  with  civil  feuds.  Economic  inter 
est  is  the  influence  that  makes  evil  gregarious. 

Lincoln  conceived  his  plan  of  warfare  on  the  organized 
evil  of  his  time  in  wisdom.  He  attacked  it  at  its  weakest 
point,  its  injustice  and  its  bad  policy.  He  made  it  not  only 
an  ethical  issue,  but  an  economic  one  as  well.  He  under 
stood  that  reform  must  be  founded  on  self  interest  as  well 
as  on  justice.  He  fought  the  evil  and  not  the  wrong  doer. 
He  was  aware  of  the  influence  of  environment  on  the  opin 
ions  of  men  whenever  property  rights  were  involved  and  so 
would  not  exact  nor  expect  too  much  of  the  individual.  He 
did  not  favor  premature  reform,  knowing  that  it  was  not 
permanent.  A  foe  to  slavery,  yet  for  a  long  time  he  was 
not  a  friend  of  abolitionism.  He  longed  for  the  emancipa 
tion  of  the  black  man,  yet  would  not  buy  it  by  attacks  on 
the  Constitution  or  on  the  compromises  of  the  statesmen 
of  the  Republic. 

He  admitted  the  evil  of  slavery,  yet  recognized  the  insti 
tution  as  far  as  the  law  sanctioned  its  existence.  So  he  would 
fight  its  transfer  to  new  territory  where  it  had  no  legal  right 
of  entrance.  He  would  circumscribe  and  starve  it,  would 
favor  compensated  emancipation,  and  thus  slowly  and  safely 
eradicate  the  evil  from  the  nation.  £His  political  philosophy 
is  worthy  of  the  study  of  every  citizen,  patriot  and  reformer, 
of  every  man  who  believes  in  the  dawn  of  better  age~s7F  His 
greatness  consists  in  never  having  relinquished  his  lofty  ideal 
in  all  of  the  materialism  of  daily  compromise,  and  in  never 
forgetting  charity,  justice  and  policy  in  his  communion  with 


The  Political  Philosophy  of  Abraham  Lincoln 

world-shaking  ideas. 

No  man  in  history  longed  for  the  triumph  of  justice  more 
earnestly  than  Abraham  Lincoln.  He  hated  evil.  Still  his 
main  purpose  was  the  preservation  of  the  principles  of  the 
republic.  Rather  than  endanger  them,  the  larger  good,  he 
would  hesitate  to  begin  a  campaign  against  organized  selfish 
ness.  Such  battles  for  humanity  require  good  generalship 
as  well  as  those  of  cannon,  fife  and  drum.  It  is  not  enough  to 
hate  evil,  to  strike  at  it  in  the  dark.  To  husband  strength, 
to  bide  the  time,  to  await  the  solemn  moment  for  attack,  is 
political  generalship,  a  generalship  that  is  as  essential  in 
the  Senate  as  on  the  battlefield. 

He  was  willing  to  engage  in  the  hard  mission  of  educating 
men  to  believe  that  brotherhood  was  a  more  substantial  foun 
dation  for  humanity  than  hatred  and  selfishness.  There 
was  nothing  of  Don  Quixote  in  his  warfare.  Democracy  was 
his  religion,  the  source  of  his  strength  and  the  secret  of  his 
influence.  All  that  he  was,  he  largely  owed  to  the  privileges 
of  the  Republic,  to  the  support  of  the  plain  people.  He  be 
lieved  in  them  with  a  rare  faith  and  they  trusted  him  with 
remarkable  fidelity,  as  the  incarnation  of  the  higher  hu 
manity.  He  was  in  harmony  with  the  onward  movement  of 
sanity,  justice  and  manhood.  Charity  to  all  was  his  plat 
form,  justice  his  program,  democracy  his  guide.  His  spirit 
is  the  spirit  of  the  new  age.  He  almost  marks  as  distin 
guished  an  advance  in  American  history  as  Moses  did  in  that 
of  Israel. 

The  politician  blindly  follows,  while  the  statesman  wisely 
educates  public  sentiment.  In  his  political  philosophy  Lin 
coln  gave  due  weight  to  the  potency  of  the  general  opinion 
of  mankind.  He  said,  "He  who  molds  public  sentiment  goes 
deeper  than  he  who  enacts  statutes  or  pronounces  decisions. 
He  makes  statutes  or  decisions  possible  or  impossible  to  be 


818  Lincoln  the  Politician 

executed."  He  well  knew  the  principle,  so  paltrily  recog 
nized,  by  even  modern  legislators,  that  it  is  far  more  vital 
to  prepare  the  public  mind  for  righteous  legislation  than 
prematurely  to  pass  laws.  It  would  be  well  to  write  his 
supreme  statement  relating  to  public  sentiment  in  every 
legislative  hall  and  judicial  tribunal  in  the  whole  land.  An 
educated  public  sentiment  will  soon  enough  secure  the  pas 
sage  of  appropriate  legislation,  and  what  is  more  essential, 
see  to  it  that  it  is  enforced.  The  curse  of  American  politics 
is  the  passage  of  multitudinous  enactments  to  please  certain 
organized  interests  and  the  deliberate  indifference,  if  not  hos 
tility,  of  public  sentiment  to  their  subsequent  enforcement. 
The  problem  will  be  far  from  settled  until  fewer  laws  are 
passed,  and  such  enactments  are  religiously  enforced.  Lin 
coln  would  not  aid  in  the  passage  of  a  law  not  intended  to 
be  enforced  or  incapable  in  the  common  course  of  events  of 
being  substantially  enforced,  and  he  recognized  that  legis 
lation  should  be  a  practical  science  based  on  the  actual 
character,  the  ability  of  a  people  to  move  forward.  Fro- 
ward  reform  is  almost  as  pernicious  as  selfish  conservatism. 

So  complete  was  Lincoln's  mastery  over  the  masses  that 
many  have  misunderstood  the  power  of  his  genius  as  merely 
following  public  opinion.  He  did  infinitely  more.  He  studied 
the  capacity  of  men  for  progress,  slowly  leading  them  to  the 
higher  altitude.  Lincoln  recognized  the  limitations  of  aver 
age  human  advance ;  that  the  mind  and  heart  move  slowly  in 
the  march  of  centuries.  He  worked  with  the  materials  at 
hand  and  builded  on  the  solid  foundation  of  the  real  national 
character.  He  did  not  stand  in  the  direct  way  of  events, 
still  he  deemed  it  a  duty  ever  to  guide  them  toward  the  goal 
of  an  advancing  civilization. 

The  attitude  of  Lincoln  to  party  organization  is  of  com 
manding  interest.  There  was  no  more  valiant,  earnest  worker 


The  Political  Philosophy  of  Abraham  Lincoln       219 

in  the  Whig  ranks.  None  can  question  his  devotion  to  the 
routine,  burdensome  labor  of  the  campaign.  In  making 
speeches,  in  writing  platforms,  in  arranging  meetings,  in  is 
suing  circulars,  and  in  the  tiring  work  at  the  polls,  he  was 
a  persistent  toiler,  a  loyal  partisan.  In  the  Legislature  he 
usually  voted  with  his  associates.  He  often  sought  to 
strengthen  the  party  in  the  selection  of  office  holders. 

He  believed  in  organized  political  action.  He  remained 
a  trusted  leader  in  the  party  of  his  choice,  seldom  alienating 
himself  from  the  party  managers,  or  the  rank  and  file.  Still 
he  was  no  slave  of  party  or  caucus.  His  party,  town  or 
state,  could  not  buy  or  bribe  his  integrity,  or  get  him  to  be 
false  to  his  duty.  He  believed  that  parties  were  useful  to 
democratic  government  as  long  as  they  were  substantially  in 
harmony  with  its  deeper  objects.  Still  he  did  not  deem  them 
sacred,  and  when  circumstances  demanded,  favored  their  dis 
solution,  and  the  organization  of  new  parties.  He  was  one 
of  the  few  politicians  in  American  history  who  acted  on  the 
conviction  that  the  man  who  served  his  state  best,  best 
served  his  party.  Having  no  sympathy  with  anarchy  in  poli 
tics,  he  gave  full  value  to  the  importance  of  the  organiza 
tion,  but  did  not  exalt  it  into  an  object  of  adoration.  Above 
it,  he  placed  loyalty  to  the  Constitution  and  the  fathers  of 
the  country.  He  was  neither  mugwump  nor  partisan. 

There  are  two  classes  of  men,  materialists  and  visionaries. 
The  materialist  is  a  slave  to  the  fact.  He  is  so  intent  on 
the  earth  that  he  seldom  enjoys  a  glimpse  of  star  or  con 
stellation.  Still  he  is  a  student  of  methods  and  results,  a 
worshipper  of  success,  and  hence  he  is  generally  in  the  ascend 
ancy.  The  visionary  is  a  slave  to  his  ideal,  he  looks  at  the 
world  as  it  should  be  and  not  as  it  is.  While  he  gazes  at 
the  sunset  and  the  evening  star  he  falls  in  the  pit  at  his 
feet.  He  resembles  the  mariner  of  Heine : 


Lincoln  the  Politician 

"A  wonderful  lovely  maiden, 

Sits  high  in  her  glory  there, 
Her  robe  with  gems  is  laden, 

And  she  combeth  her  golden  hair, 
And  as  she  combs  it, 

The  gold  comb  glistens, 
The  while  she  is  singing  a  song, 

That  hath  a  mystical  sound  and  a  wonderful 

melody, 
The  boatman  when  once  she  has  bound  him, 

Is  lost  in  wild  mad  love, 
He  sees  not  the  black  rocks  around  him, 

He  sees  but  the  beauty  above." 

The  real  leaders  in  the  world's  history  have  been  idealists 
of  high  practical  wisdom.  They  have  been  the  captains,  not 
the  subjects  of  their  ideal.  The  petty  politician  rules  for 
the  day.  The  men  who  dominate  the  ages  give  substance  to 
shadow,  make  the  dream  of  one  day  the  reality  of  another, 
crystallize  the  yearnings  of  humanity  into  statute  and  de 
cision. 

The  world  is  used  to  the  omnipresent  politician.  The 
visionafy,  the  undaunted  reformer,  is  not  an  infrequent  par 
ticipant  in  the  domain  of  affairs.  The  political  idealist,  with 
the  judgment  of  the  one  and  the  inspiration  of  the  other,  is 
so  rare  that  he  confounds  by  his  presence.  The  combination 
astounds  the  generation  unaccustomed  to  such  a  phenomenon. 
The  man  of  high  endowments  is  stupidly  expected  to  be  want 
ing  in  worldliness,  and  the  practical  representative  of  the 
people  in  the  vision.  The  solution  of  all  political  problems 
depends  on  political  sagacity  illumined  with  altruism.  The 
political  idealist  consummates  the  alliance  of  vision  with 
method. 


The  Political  Philosophy  of  Abraham  Lincoln 

Lincoln  was  neither  idealist  nor  politician.  With  the  ideal 
ist  he  was  faithful  to  the  vision,  with  the  politician  he  studied 
the  way  to  success.  He  was  not  lost  in  mere  adoration  of 
the  ideal;  was  not  content  until  it  became  a  reality.  He 
blended  the  enthusiasm  of  the  visionary  with  the  wisdom  of 
the  politician.  He  was  the  ideal  politician. 

Lincoln  was  the  prophet  politician  of  his  time,  blending 
the  righteousness  of  the  Hebraic  seer  with  political  sagacity. 
He  faced  failure  imperiously.  He  was  never  finally  van 
quished.  He  looked  beyond  temporary  triumph  to  ultimate 
consequences.  Despite  setback,  disaster  and  every  obstacle, 
he  had  abounding  faith  in  the  abiding  triumph  of  justice. 

He  knew  the  shortcomings  of  human  nature,  the  painful, 
sluggard  progress  of  moral  evolution.  He  weighed  men  as 
they  were  and  not  as  he  wished  them  to  be.  Hence,  he  was 
patient  with  their  failings.  He  made  ample  allowance  for 
the  heavy  hand  of  habit,  for  ancestral,  religious,  political, 
social  and  industrial  environment.  That  men  were  largely 
the  children  of  their  time  was  to  him  an  ever  present  truth. 
Cooperation  not  antagonism  was  his  method  of  achievement. 
He  would  not  force  progress  and  he  recognized  the  sway  of 
the  grim  law  of  necessity.  He  measured  the  labored  march 
of  public  sentiment.  He  waited  the  slow  processes  of  time ; 
was  no  believer  in  magical  reforms  or  quack  political  reme 
dies.  He  did  not  squander  his  energies  in  the  wonderland 
of  dreams.  He  is  the  wisest  politician  in  American  history, 
consummate  in  his  strategy  for  the  general  welfare,  the  su 
preme  friend  and  champion  of  democracy  and  humanity. 


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Greeley,  Horace,  The  American  conflict.     Qhicago,  1866. 

Herndon,   William   H.,   Herndon's   Lincoln.      %   vols.      New 
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INDEX 


Abolitionists — Abolition  Intelligen 
cer,  35;  brute  force  dooms  slav 
ery,  77-78;  early  western  move 
ments  of,  35;  favor  emancipa 
tion  in  District  of  Columbia, 
144-146;  Garrisonian,  117;  "Gen 
ius,"  35;  Illinois,  hated  in,  76- 
78;  political,  118-119;  public 
service  performed,  78. 

Adams,  John  Q.,  22. 

Alton  Observer,  83. 

American  Government,  Lincoln's 
Essay  on,  28. 

American  party,  see  Know-noth 
ing  party. 

American  Preceptor,  35. 

Anti-slavery,  see  Slavery. 

Armstrong,  Jack,  43-44,  46. 

Atchison,  D.  R.,  158. 

Baker,  Col.   E.  D.,  90,  96-98,  112- 

115,  121,  128,  138,  149. 
Battles,  greatest,  161. 
Birney,  James  G.,  118. 
Bissel,  Gov.,  195. 
Black  Hawk  War,  47. 
Bloomington  Convention,  190-193. 
Brackenridge,  John  V.,  31. 
Brooks,  Preston  S.,  190. 
Browning,  O.   H.,  90,   138. 
Buchanan,    Pres.    James,    194-195, 

201,  203-205. 
Burke,  Edmund,  119. 
Butterneld,  Justin,  149-150. 


Calhoun,  John  (111.),  55-56,  90-91, 
119. 

Calhoun,  John  C.,  20,  116-117,  158. 

Campaign,  1834,  in  111.,  59. 

Campaign,  1836,  in  111.,  64. 

Campaign,  1838,  in  111.,  87-88. 

Campaign,  national  1840,  exuber 
ant  speech,  95-96. 

Campaign,  national  1844,  116-120. 

Campaign,  national   1848,  137-142. 

Campaign,  national  1852,  155. 

Capitalists,  74. 

Cartwright,  Rev.  Peter,  124-127. 

Cass,  Gen.  Lewis,  138,  140. 

Chase,  S.  P.,  145. 

Chatham,  119. 

Civilization,  test  of,  213. 

Clary  Grove  boys,  43-44,  50,  66-67. 

Clay,  Henry,  18,  22,  34,  116-120, 
138,  153-155,  159;  colonization 
proposal,  154-155;  tribute  to 
in  defeat,  120. 

Clinton,  De  Witt,  23-24. 

Columbian  orator,  35. 

Compromise,  147;  slavery  not  set 
tled  by,  158. 

Compromise  measures,  1850,  152. 

Convention  system,  110-111. 

Darbey,  J.  F.,  141. 
Davis,  Judge  David,  180. 
Dawson,  60. 

Democratic  Party— Anti-Nebras 
ka  Democrats,  190;  banks,  hos- 


227 


228 


Index 


tilityto,105;  New  Salem  Dem 
ocrats  work  for  Lincoln,  54- 
55;  Northern  complicity  in 
crime  of  Kansas,  201-202; 
Northern  repudiate  Kansas 
crime,  202;  Northern  resent 
Southern  support  of  Taylor, 
144;  patriotic  minority  in  1854, 
165-166;  run  Lincoln  as  can 
didate  in  1834,  58. 

Democracy,  political  religion  of 
Lincoln,  217. 

Dixon,  Archibald,  158. 

Douglas,  Fred,  20,  35. 

Douglas,  Stephen  A.,  See  Lincoln, 
— Buchanan,  braves,  203;  con 
queror,  returns  as  in  1858, 
204-205;  debate,  defeats  Ew- 
ing  in,  97;  debate,  Whig's 
challenge  to,  90;  Democratic 
administration  fights,  202-203; 
howled  down  in  Chicago,  162; 
judiciary  reorganized,  100- 
101;  Kansas  issue,  not  the  au 
thor  of,  157-158;  Lincoln,  de 
bates  with,  92,  97-99,  119,  170- 
175,  211;  Missouri  Compro 
mise,  167-168;  patriot,  not  hu 
manitarian,  159 ;  Republican 
leaders  coquette  with,  203- 
204;  senate,  Anti-slavery  lead 
ers  in,  confounded  by,  170; 
State  Fair  speech,  162-163; 
Supreme  Court,  Jackson's  at 
tack  on,  199. 

Dred  Scott  decision,  See  Lincoln. 

Dueling,  105. 

Economic  interest,  216. 
Edwards,  Cyrus,  angry  at  Lincoln, 

149-150. 
Emancipation,  gradual,  147. 


Emancipation  proclamation,  86. 
Emancipation,  race,  85. 
Erie  Canal,  22-23. 
Ewing,  W.  L.  D.,  73. 
Ewing,  Gen.  John,  97. 

Fillmore,  Pres.  Millard,  150,  194. 

Ford,  Gov.,  69-70. 

Forquer's  lightning  rod,  67-68. 

Franklin,   199. 

Free  Soil  men,  142-143. 

Freemont,  J.  C.,  193-195. 

Garrison,  W.  L.,  173,  185. 

Gentry,  Allen,  34. 

Gentryville,  Ind.,  people  of,  31-32. 

Giddings,  J.  R.,  145. 

Gillespie,  Joseph,  106. 

Graham,  Minter,  42,  55. 

Great  Britain,  117. 

Great  Debate,  The,  91. 

Greeley,  127,  133,  204-205. 

Grigsby,  Nat.,  Story  of,  119. 

Grigsbys,  fight  with,  32-33. 

Hardin,    John    J.,    112,    115,    121- 

124,  128. 

Harrison,  Pres.  W.  H.,  90,  95-96. 
Head,  Jesse,  19. 
Heine's,  Lorelei,  219,  220. 
Henry,  Patrick,   119. 
Herndon,  W.  H.,  82,  109-112,  131- 

132,    156,    163-165,    177,    188, 

192-193,  204,  207-208. 
Herndon,  Rowan,  45. 

Ideals,  political,  219-220. 

Illinois— Abolitionism,  hated  in, 
76;  Abolition  societies,  early 
in,  35;  Black  code  of,  76;  ju 
diciary  in  politics,  100-102. 

Indiana— Gentryville,  31-32;  inter- 


Index 


nal  improvement  policy,  22- 
24;  pioneer  politics,  21-23; 
Spencer  County,  21,  24;  Stat 
utes  revised,  28,  30. 

Injustice,  nation  cannot  live  on, 
208. 

Internal  improvement  policy,  22- 
24,  68-69,  89. 

Jackson,  Andrew,  22,  34,  50,  56, 
117,  124-125,  141,  199. 

Jayne,  William,  176. 

Jefferson,  17,  154,  199. 

Johnston,  John,  step-brother  of 
Lincoln,  30,  32. 

Judicial  system  of  111.  prey  of 
partisanship,  100-102. 

Kansas,  Neb.  struggle,  181-183, 
189,  201-204;  crisis,  national, 
marked  by,  182;  Lecompton 
Constitution,  202;  violence  be 
gets  violence,  189. 

Kentucky — Abolitionism,  18,  35 ; 
Anti- federalist,  17;  frontier 
life,  15-17;  law-abiding,  16-17; 
passion  for  politics,  17;  pio 
neer  hardships,  16;  schools,  16; 
slavery,  18. 

Know-nothing  party,  190;  seek 
Lincoln,  182;  opposed  by  Lin 
coln,  185,  187. 

Labor,  Lincoln  sympathizes  with, 
135-136;  grapple  with  slavery, 
182. 

Lambourn,  Josiah,  90. 

Lamon,  W.  H.,  93,  100,  102,  109- 
110,  163,  192,  207-208,  210. 

Legislature  111.  in  1834,  60-61;  cor 
ruption  in,  126. 

Liberty  men,  118. 


Lincoln,  Abraham, — 
Abolitionist,  not,  41. 
Ambition,  53-54,  109-110. 
American  Government,  essay  on, 

28. 

Ancestry,  15. 
Aristocrat,   charged   with   being, 

113-114. 
Armstrong,  Jack,  fight  with,  43- 

44. 

Athlete,  36,  44. 
Bargain  with  Democrats  in  1834, 

58. 

Black  Hawk  War,  47-49. 
Campaign,  1840,  active  for  Gen. 

Harrison,  96. 
Campaign,  1844;  enthusiastic  for 

Clay,  119;   speaks  in  Indiana, 

119. 
Campaign,  1848,  137-142;  strong 

for  Taylor,  137-138:  speaks  in 

New  England,  142. 
Campaign,  1852;  colorless,  155. 
Campaign,  1856,  received  flatter 
ing    vote    for    vice-presidency 

in  Republican  convention,  193; 

great  demand  for  as  speaker, 

193-194. 
Campaign,  purse  returned  by,  87- 

88. 

Capitalists,  comment  on,  74. 
Capitol  removed  from  Vandalia 

to  Springfield,  70-71. 
Captain,  elected  in  Black  Hawk 

War,  47-48. 

Clary  Grove  boys,  the,  43-44. 
Clay,    Henry— admirer    of,    119; 

opposed  to  in  1848  campaign, 

138;  tribute  to  at  death,  153- 

155. 
Colonization  proposal  of  Clay — 

approved  by,  154-155. 


250 


Index 


Congress,  candidate  for,  in  1843 
— bargain  as  to  nomination  at 
Pekin  Convention,  121;  de 
feated  by  Baker,  113-115;  ex 
planation  of  his  defeat,  114- 
115;  Hardin  defeated  by  for 
the  nomination  in  1846,  121- 
124;  elected  in  1846,  defeating 
Cartwright,  126-127. 

Congress,  in, — anti-slavery  rad 
ical  resolution  opposes,  144; 
anti-slavery  bill  skillfully  in 
troduces,  144-145 ;  democratic 
postmaster  general  supports, 
135;  internal  improvement  pol 
icy  approves,  136-137;  Mexican 
War,  attitude  to,  127-134; 
Mexican  War  policy,  hateful 
to  constituents,  131,  151; 
speech,  Campaign,  139;  "Spot 
resolutions,"  130,  151;  training 
in,  151 ;  war  of  aggression,  op 
poses,  129-134;  Wilmot  Pro 
viso,  votes  for,  144. 

Conservative  radical,  79. 

Convention  system,  favors,  110- 
111. 

Court  trial,  attended  by,  31. 

Debater, — convincing,  141-143; 
demagogue,  exposes,  88;  fair 
ness  in  debate,  66;  skill  in, 
175;  youthful,  31,  47. 

Douglas — followed  with  facts, 
98-99;  match  for,  175;  popular 
sovereignty  doctrine  crushed, 
171-172;  sought  by  Lincoln  in 
debate,  91-92;  sophistry  of  ex 
posed,  170;  State  fair  speech, 
replied  to,  163;  truce  tendered 
Lincoln,  174-175. 

Declaration  of  Independence — 
not  a  lie,  174,  199-200. 


Deist,  charged  with  being,  115, 
126. 

Demagogue,  exposed  by,  88. 

Democrats — bargain  with,  58 ; 
charges  with  having  vulnerable 
heels,  92;  popular  with,  54. 

Democracy,  faith  in,  63-64. 

Disappointments,  familiar  with, 
54. 

Diplomacy,  74-75. 

Dred  Scott  Decision,  197-200; 
Lincoln's  opposition  to,  198- 
199;  weakened  respect  for  Su 
preme  Court,  198. 

Drink,  does  not,  87. 

Duality  of  his  life,  35-36. 

Duels— Ewing  with,  73;  Shields 
with,  104-105. 

Education — books  that  mould  his 
political  opinions,  28-30;  early, 
19-20;  law,  studies,  56;  learn 
ing,  love  of,  27;  legislature  in, 
60-61;  libraries,  haunts,  161; 
method  of,  26-27;  practical  for 
leadership,  36-38;  subjective, 
27,  36;  Weems'  Life  of  Wash 
ington,  29. 

Environment,  20,  32,  33;  poverty 
of,  25,  26;  Kentucky,  17-18. 

Fairness,  46. 

Federalist,  17. 

Financier— 69,  99;  De  Witt  Clin 
ton,  aims  to  be  of  111.,  68; 
merchant,  failure  as,  45-46. 

Foresight — foresees  slavery 
struggle,  47,  127,  132,  157,  172. 

Free  Soil  Men  attacked,  142; 
converted,  143. 

Genius,  towering  and  race  eman 
cipation,  85. 

Greatness,  216-217. 

Greeley  corrected,  133. 


Index 


Grigsbys,  fight   with,  32. 

Harrison,  Gen.  W.  H.,  candidacy 
for  presidency  promoted,  90. 

Herndon,  W.  H.,  see  Herndon 
above;  letter  to,  111-112. 

Hero  of  New  Salem,  57. 

Honesty,  45. 

Horse  races,  judge  at,  45. 

Humility— 50,  54,  91,  100;  lesson 
in  at  murder  trial,  31. 

Imagination,  139. 

Indian,  protects  old,  48-49. 

Internal  improvements — public 
lands  proceeds  for,  61-63;  per 
sistent  supporter  of,  68,  69,  89, 
136-137. 

Judiciary — function  of,  198-199; 
Jackson's  attitude  to,  199;  op 
poses  political  interference 
with  by  legislature,  101 ;  speaks 
bitterly  of  relation  to  slavery, 
156;  war  on  Dred  Scott  deci 
sion,  198-200. 

Justice,  nation  cannot  exist  on 
injustice,  208;  negro,  to,  170; 
south,  to,  168-169. 

Kindness,  46-47. 

Know-nothingism,  184-185,  187, 
190;  prescriptive  principles  op 
posed,  187. 

Labor — sympathy  for,  135-136 ; 
laborer,  44;  farmer,  44. 

Law — reverence  for,  198;  stud 
ies,  56. 

Lawyer,  dislike  of  details,  109. 

Lawmaking,  skilled  in,  61. 

Legislature,  1832,  defeated  for, 
55;  1834,  elected  to,  58;  1836, 
received  highest  vote  for,  in 
Sangamon  County,  68;  1838, 
elected  to,  87;  1838,  candidate 
for  speaker,  88;  1840,  candi 


date  for  speaker,  99;  charges 
of  corruption  of  Sangamon 
delegation,  replies  to,  73; 
jumps  from  window  during 
session,  105-106;  log-roller  in, 
68;  protest  of  1837,  80;  State 
debt,  loose  plan  to  pay,  99-100; 
summary  of  career,  107-108. 

Liberty  men,  satirizes,  118. 

Literary  style — development  of, 
27-28,  32;  fanciful,  83-84,  92- 
94;  scathing  speech,  141;  vul 
gar  satires,  32. 

Log-roller,  68. 

Lovejoy,  Owen,  writes  to,  178. 

Maxims,  74. 

Mexican  War— 127-134;  151. 

Mob  spirit — 83;  cure  for,  84. 

Mother,  26. 

New  England — speeches  in,  142- 
143;  Seward,  meets  in,  143. 

New  Salem — 42-57;  hero  of,  57. 

New  Orleans,  sale  of  slave  stirs 
Lincoln,  41. 

Office  seeker,  as,  149-150. 

Office  seekers,  unique  recom 
mendation  of,  148. 

"Old  Abe,"  54. 

Oregon  governorship  refused  by, 
150. 

Parliamentarian,  smartest,  68. 

Partisan— 65-66;  110-112. 

Patriot— 72,  192-193;  corrupt 
bargain,  spurns,  71-72;  fraud 
ulent  voting,  opposes,  106; 
party  spoils  system,  opposes, 
148;  politician  and  patriot, 
72;  political  duty,  179-180; 
TrumbulPs  election,  advises, 
179-180. 

Peace,  friend  of,  185. 

Peoria  speech,  167-170. 


Index 


Personal  influence,  70-71. 

Physical  strength,  44,  46. 

Pilot,  45. 

Political  philosophy  of,  213-221; 
brotherhood  basis  of  progress, 
217;  central  idea  of  the  repub 
lic,  195;  compromise  when 
available,  147 ;  compensated 
emancipation,  216;  faith  in  tri 
umph  of  justice,  221;  laws  of 
political  progress,  216-218;  leg 
islation,  218;  organized  polit 
ical  action  favored,  219;  par 
ties  not  sacred,  219;  party 
power,  184;  patient  with  frail 
ty,  221;  political  generalship, 
217;  public  office,  public  trust, 
107;  public  opinion,  218;  revo 
lution  through  ballot,  189-190; 
slavery,  attacks  at  weakest 
point,  216;  universal  feeling, 
169;  violence  opposes,  189- 
190;  works  with  men  as  they 
are,  221. 

Political  strategy  —  adroitness 
with  country  editor,  176-177; 
anti-slavery  bill  in  Congress, 
144-146;  bargain  with  Demo 
crats,  in  1834,  58;  bargain  for 
Congressional  nomination,  121; 
Freemont  campaign  sees  Fill- 
more  danger,  194;  jumps  from 
church  window,  106;  log-roll 
er,  cunning,  68,  70-71;  Love- 
joy  avoided,  164;  smart  parlia 
mentarian,  68;  tactician,  144- 
145;  trick  of  Herndon  en 
dorses,  164-165. 

Politician— 74;  act,  first  polit 
ical,  42;  activity,  110;  advance 
ment  as,  111-112;  applicant  for 
office,  148-150;  Capitol  removes 


to  Springfield,  70-71;  defeat, 
training  in,  114,  180;  discern 
ment,  139;  expediency,  99; 
fairness,  148;  generalship,  217; 
greatness,  216-217;  ideal,  221; 
party  leader,  219;  patriot  and 
politician,  72;  policy,  41-42; 
politics,  his  world,  109-110; 
popularity,  champion  of,  52; 
popularity  in  New  Salem,  54- 
55;  prescience",  210;  prophet 
politician,  221;  religion,  polit 
ical,  217;  schooling,  106;  self- 
glorifying  declination,  107; 
skill,  179;  succeed,  how  to,  as, 
111-112;  vote,  new  method  of, 
bring  out,  94-95;  wisdom,  148, 
210. 

Popular  will,  student  of,  63. 

Postmaster,  56. 

Preacher,  indefatigable,  30. 

Presidency,  140,  210. 

Press,  seeks  the,  121-122,  176- 
177. 

Protection,  favors,  50,  135. 

Protest  1837,  79-81,  108. 

Public  office,  public  trust,  107. 

Public  lands  proceeds  for  inter 
nal  improvements,  63. 

Religion,  political,  217. 

Republican  Party — Blooming-ton 
Convention,  190-191;  editors 
convention,  first  step  in  forma 
tion  of  in  111.,  187-188;  joins, 
188-189;  parties,  three  seek 
Lincoln  in  1855,  182;  party  un 
certainty,  1855,  184-185. 

Right,  exhortation  to  stand  with 
whoever  is,  172-173. 

Senate  U.  S.— candidate  in  1854, 
176;  defeated,  179-180;  duty 
of  as  representative  of  whole 


Index 


233 


state,  178;  nominated  unani 
mously  by  Republicans,  1858, 
205-206;  passion  for  term  in, 
176. 

Shields,  "scrap  with,"  103-105. 

Slavery, — anti-slavery  bill  in 
Congress,  145-146;  not  apolo 
gist  for,  or  abolitionist,  41 ;  at 
tacks  weakest  point,  216;  anti- 
slavery  sentiments,  origin  of, 
35 ;  anti-slavery  movement, 
growth  of  in  New  England, 
143;  colonization  favors,  154- 
155;  Declaration  of  Independ 
ence,  relation  to,  199-200;  de 
spair  at  strength  of,  153;  eco 
nomic  strength,  197;  foresees 
conflict  over,  47;  gradual 
emancipation  policy,  147;  ha 
tred  of,  110, 173-174,  183;  jus 
tice  to  negro,  170;  menace  of, 
173-174;  moral  issue  in  North, 
197;  New  Orleans  trip,  kin 
dles  hatred,  40-41;  protest, 
1837,  79-81;  sale  of  mulatto 
girl,  fires  with  hatred  of,  41- 
42;  subverts  government,  157; 
shackled  slaves  torment,  110; 
slavetraders  control  Southern 
policies,  184;  South's  pecuni 
ary  interest  in,  197;  terri 
tories,  opposition  to  spread  in, 
169. 

Social  slight,  resentment  at,  32. 

South — constitutional  rights  rec 
ognized,  169;  pecuniary  inter 
est  in  slavery,  197;  slave-trad 
ers  dictate  politics  of,  184. 

Speaker — attract,  does  not,  in 
"great  debate,"  91-92;  growing 
demand  for,  194;  eminence  in 
1836,  68;  emotions,  appeals  to, 


50,  67-68,  96;  eulogy  on  Clay, 
153-155;  fails  as,  97;  Forquer, 
crushing  reply  to,  67;  Free- 
mont  campaign,  makes  50 
speeches  in,  193-194;  humorous 
passage  in  speech,  92;  "lost 
speech,"  191-192;  Peoria 
speech,  167-174;  "scathing 
style,"  141;  shocks  cultured 
lawyer  in  1840,  96-97;  Spring 
field,  1858  speech,  207-212; 
State  Fair  speech,  163;  youth 
ful,  30,  40,  50-51;  wilderness, 
as  in  a,  192. 

Spot  resolutions,  130,  151. 

Springfield  speech — "house-di- 
vided-against-itself"  address, 
207-212;  apotheosis  of  career, 
212;  criticized  by  friends,  207- 
208,  210;  pride  in,  210-211;  na 
tion  cannot  exist  on  injustice, 
and  must  become  all  free  or 
all  slaves,  208-210;  presidency, 
claim  that  it  was  a  bid  for, 
210;  United  States  history,  one 
of  the  momentous  addresses 
in,  208;  wisely  framed,  211. 

Springfield,  111. — humble  en 
trance  into,  72-73;  secures  re 
moval  of  Capitol  to,  70-71. 

Statesman — 78 ;  national  leader, 
212;  national  vision,  134. 

Stories, — appearance,  59-60;  bal 
lots,  not  bullets,  189-190;  brag 
ging  horse  owner,  SO'-Sl;  John 
Calhoun,  55;  campaign  purse, 
87-88;  candidate,  pompous,  re 
buked,  60;  captain,  48; 
cruelty  to  animals,  30; 
cultured  lawyer  shocked, 
96 ;  demagogue  exposed, 
88;  despair  as  to  slav- 


234 


Index 


ery,  153;  Douglas  tenders 
truce,  174-175;  duel,  Shields, 
103-105;  engagement,  102-103; 
fairness,  45-46;  farm  hands, 
59 ;  fight  with  Jack  Armstrong, 
43-44;  free  speech,  98;  fore 
sight,  127;  honesty,  45;  horse 
race,  45;  Indian,  old,  48-49; 
jumps  from  window,  106;  law 
studies,  56;  lightning  rod, 
Forquer's,  67-68;  Lovejoy, 
avoids,  163-164;  mercy,  46-47; 
•  mother,  25;  negro  boy,  189; 
negro  girl,  sale  of,  New  Orleans, 
41;  partnership,  Herndon,  112; 
Pekin  convention,  121;  pov 
erty,  68,  72-73;  principle,  loy 
alty  to,  71-72;  politics,  his 
world,  109;  public,  first  act, 
42;  Revolutionary  history,  29; 
same  Abe  Lincoln,  114;  slav 
ery  struggle  serious,  152; 
shackled  slaves,  110;  soldier, 
19;  speaker,  failure  as,  97; 
speech,  early,  52;  "Speed,  I'm 
moved,"  72-73;  "There's  Nat," 
119;  trick  of  Herndon,  164- 
165;  Washington,  Weems'  Life 
of,  29;  world  not  dead,  192- 
193. 

Supreme  Court  of  U.  S.— atti 
tude  to,  198-199;  Douglas,  ap 
proval  of  Jackson's  position, 
199;  Dred  Scott  decision  of, 
197-200;  Dred  Scott  decision 
weakens  respect  for,  198; 
Jackson's  view  of  its  lack  of 
constitutional  power  of  inter 
pretation,  199;  judges  of,  stu 
dents  of  the  past,  200;  judi 
cial  decisions,  function  of,  198- 
199;  Lincoln  wiser  than,  200. 


Surveyor,  55. 

Taylor,  Zachary,  promotes  pres 
idential  candidacy,  138. 
Temperate,   87. 
Texas,  annexation  of,  129. 
Todd,  Mary    (Lincoln),  engage 
ment  to  Lincoln,  severance  of 
engagement  and  reconciliation, 
102-104. 

Universal  suffrage,  faith  in,  64. 
Usury,  52-53. 

Voting,  fraudulent,  opposes,  106. 
War — captain    in    Black    Hawk 
War,      47-49;      dissatisfaction 
with  Lincoln's  action  in  Mex 
ican  War,  131;  Mexican  War, 
vigorous    prosecution    of    fa 
vored,  128-129;  Mexican  War, 
inception  of  opposed,  129-131; 
Mexican  War,   speech  on  in 
ception   of   in   Congress,   130- 
131 ;  war  power  under  the  Con 
stitution,  132-133. 
Washington,  28-30. 
Whig,  34,  50,  58,  68,  172. 
Woman  Suffrage,  62-63. 
Wit,  30-31. 

Writer,  see  literary  style  above, 
first  efforts,  27-28;  first  impor 
tant  address,  51-54. 
Lincoln,  Mrs.  Abraham,  150,  176. 
Lincoln,  Nancy  Hanks,  19,  25. 
Lincoln,  Sally  Bush,  19. 
Lincoln,  Thomas,  15-16,  19,  24-25, 
39;  reasons  for  removal  from 
Kentucky,  18-19. 
Linder,  W.  F.,  73. 
Locos,  115,  139. 
Lost  speech,  See  Lincoln. 
Logan,  Judge  S.  T.,  51,  90,  121. 
Lovejoy,  Rev.  E.  P.— murder  of, 
79,  86;  mob  spirit,  81-82. 


Index 


235 


Lovejoy,  Owen,  163,  177-178,  186. 
Lundy,  Benjamin,  35. 

Matteson,  Gov.,  179. 

Mexican  War,  origin  of,  127-128; 
patriotism  awakened  by,  128- 
131;  Whigs,  attitude  toward, 
129-130. 

Milk-sick,  39. 

Minority  party,  value  of,  101-102. 

Missouri  compromise,  167-168;  re 
peal  of,  158-160,  162,  170,  182. 

Mob  spirit,  81-83;  cure  for,  84. 

Moral  prophet,  seldom  politician, 
166. 

Morrison,  Col.  J.  L.  D.,  149. 

Moses,  217. 

National  campaigns,  See  cam 
paigns. 

O'Connell,  Daniel,  173. 

Offutt,  Denton,  40,  42,  43. 

Ohio,  23. 

Osborn,  Charles,  35. 

Pain,  John,  193. 

Pain,  Thomas,  19. 

Palmer,  John  M.,  165-166,  191. 

Panic,  1837,  103. 

Parties,  new,  need  of  about  1854, 

181-182;     power     of    partisan 

lash,  183-184;  sacred,  not,  219; 

utility  of,  219. 
Partisanship,  growth  of,  64-65,  66; 

judiciary,  100-102. 
Party  ties,  painful  rending  of,  165- 

166. 

Patriotism,  civil,  213. 
Pekin    convention,    1843,    startling 

story  of,  121. 
Pettit,  John,  174. 


Phillips,  Wendell,  173. 

Pierce,  Pres.  Franklin,  195. 

Pioneer  life — churchman  as  public 
officer,  127;  Illinois,  39;  Indi 
ana,  21-23;  politics,  21-22; 
recreation,  31-32;  schools,  16; 
social  life,  32-33;  store,  33; 
story-telling,  33. 

Politics — art  of  securing  results, 
215;  American  History,  strug 
gle  between  abolitionism  and 
slavery,  214;  evil,  organized 
wisest  attack  on,  215-216;  fac 
tor  vital  in  civilization,  215; 
pioneer,  21-23;  politician  sel 
dom  moral  leader,  166;  politi 
cal  generalship,  217;  political 
progress,  painful  struggle, 
166-167;  recreation  to  pioneer, 
22;  school  of  the  nation,  22; 
true  politician,  213;  voters, 
new  method  of  getting  out, 
94-95. 

Political  philosophy — economic  in 
fluence  gregarious,  216;  human 
nature,  slow-changing,  215;  in 
justice,  nation  cannot  live  on, 
208;  Lincoln's,  213-221;  poli 
tician  and  statesman  distin 
guished,  217-218;  public  opin 
ion,  importance  of,  195-196, 
217-218;  universal  feeling,  169. 

Polk,  Pres.  J.  K.,  119-120,  127,  130- 
131,  136. 

Presidency,  140,  210. 

Public  office,  hunger  for,  148. 

Public  service,  state  of,  test  of 
progress,  213. 

Religious  leader  opposed  as  repre 
sentative  of  people,  127. 
Republic,  central  idea  of,  195-196. 


236 


Index 


Republican  Party— new  party, 
need  of,  181;  national,  first 
convention,  193;  origin  Illinois, 
187-188;  second  step  in  forma 
tion  of,  190-191. 


Sangamon  River,  navigability  of, 
52. 

Sangamon  delegation  charged  with 
corruption,  70,  73. 

Schieder,  G.  H.,  187. 

Selby,  Paul,  190. 

Senate,  U.  S.,  slave  power  favored 
by,  144. 

Seward,  W.  H.,  143,  145,  201,  204- 
205. 

Shields,  James,  103-104,  128. 

Slavery — economic  strength  of, 
197;  free  speech  endangered 
by,  78;  gradual  emancipation, 
147;  Illinois  friendly,  76-78; 
intolerance  of,  145-146;  Kan 
sas  struggle,  181-182;  moral 
issue  in  the  North,  197;  north 
and  south  responsible  for,  168; 
policy,  bad,  80;  portentous 
problem,  20;  power  of,  41; 
property,  ostentatious,  157 ; 
slave-trade,  effort  to  abolish, 
144-145;  subverts  government, 
157. 

South,  Texas,  annexation   of,   117. 

Speed,  Joshua,  67,  72-73,  87,  90, 
103,  182-185. 

Spencer  County,  21,  24. 

Spot  resolutions,  See  Lincoln. 

Springfield  speech,  See  Lincoln. 

Stanton,  E.  M.,  145. 

Stephens,  A.  H.,  134,  138. 


Stone,  Dan,  80,  146. 
Stuart,  John  T.,  60,  90,  188. 
Sumner,  190. 

Taylor,  Richard,  88. 

Taylor,     Pres.     Zachary,     137-139, 

149-150. 

Texas,  annexation  of,  116-117,  129. 
Thomas,  90. 
Todd,   Mary    (Lincoln),   See   Mrs. 

Abraham  Lincoln. 
Toombs,  Robert,  138. 
Trumbull,  Lyman,  179-180. 
Tyler,  Pres.  John,  116,  127. 

Universal  feeling,  not  to  be  disre 
garded,  169. 
Usury,  52-53. 

Vandalia,  Capitol,  111.,  70-71. 
Van  Buren,  Martin,  98,  116,  142. 
Voting,  1834,  viva  voce,  60. 

Walker,  Robert  J.,  201. 

War,  only  solution  to  slavery 
struggle,  214. 

War  power  under  Constitution, 
132-133. 

Washburn,  E.  B.,  138,  179. 

Washington,  29,  131,  156,  199,  201. 

Webster,  Daniel,  92,  95,  116,  159, 
209. 

Weems'    Life   of   Washington,   28. 

Whigs — called  federalists,  49;  ag 
gressive  campaign,  1840,  95; 
judiciary,  corruption  of,  op 
posed,  100-102;  Mexican  War, 
129-130;  support  banks,  103, 
105;  seek  Lincoln,  182. 

White,  Hugh  L.,  63. 

Wilmot,  Proviso,  138,  144. 


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